Pictured (L-R): New member Walker McDonald, new Captain John Baker, and new members Dave Lewis and and Steve Larmour reciting their oath after Fire Chief Dave Lane to serve and protect with the Seeley Lake Rural Fire District.
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire District welcomed three new members and promoted a new captain at the board of trustee Oct. 19 meeting. Members of the public also commented on recruitment.
The Fire Chief Dave Lane welcomed new members Walker McDonald, Steve Larmour and Dave Lewis during the pinning ceremony. They all have completed their task books and are active members.
"They are doing great with the department and responding to calls," Lane said.
John Baker became a new member in January 2021. He was promoted to Captain. Lane said he has been working hard with the department, stepping up in the training division and doing a lot of other things. He has nearly completed his fire officer training.
"We have another Captain whose fire duties will be restricted for a time so this is a good time to promote John to captain," Lane said.
The Chief reported that while their call volume was lower in September than in September 2020 by five calls, overall for 2021 they are up from 232 calls through September 2020 up to 293 calls to-date in September 2021, a 21% increase. He said they are recruiting new members but now they need to get the training.
Andi Bourne with the Pathfinder said while he is excited to see the new members she has heard that some people have been declined membership. While she understands that responsibility is delegated to the Chief and it is a personnel issue, she felt there should be transparency with the board and the community of the number of people who are declined membership. This is because at several board meetings the Chief has said there is a place for everyone in the Department, the District has voiced the need for volunteers and there has been talk of needing to hire paid responders to cover since there are not enough volunteers.
A past member asked if it was appropriate to text someone about their application versus calling them? Someone he knew was texted that they had paperwork waiting, "which meant she did not feel appreciated."
The Chief said he would be happy to discuss it after the meeting.
Chair Scott Kennedy added that the person should be in attendance at the meeting to continue the discussion.
The next Fire Board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. at the Fire Hall, 200 Firehouse Lane. The agenda and minutes are available at seeleyfire.org.
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