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Volunteers at 16 Mile help keep community safe from fires

Donations and dedication help residents respond to fires in the area
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Damian Couture of the Cache Creek Fire Department (r) gives a demonstration of foam suppressant to members of the 16 Mile Community Society. (Photo credit: Submitted)

On June 29, members of the 16 Mile Community Society got a demonstration of two items that they hope will be able to assist them as they tackle fires in the area.

16 Mile has no formal fire department, but over the years the society has received donations of cash and equipment to help volunteers respond quickly to fires in the area, which is outside the firefighting boundaries of the Cache Creek and Loon Lake departments. On June 13, volunteers took part in an exercise to prepare all their equipment for action and then put it into operation as if they were attending a real emergency.

The meeting was attended by representatives from BC Wildfire Service and the Cache Creek Fire Volunteer Department, and on June 29 CCVFD members returned to demonstrate a waterwall and foam dispensing equipment.

“The waterwall is a safety device that you can hook a hose on to, and puts up a vertical wall of water between you and the fire,” says society president Al Midgley. “Cache Creek had a couple there to show us. It puts up a field of water ahead of you so you can work over it and protect yourself. It’s an easy thing to make, so we can make one for ourselves.”

The CCVFD also has a semi-trailer of foam suppressant that was donated to the department after the 2017 wildfires for community use. The foam is used for oil and fuel fires, and Midgley says the department suggested trying out the foam with the society’s equipment.

“Many of our responses are to vehicle-caused fires where foam would be an asset,” says Midgley. “It was successful, although not as powerful an application as with regular fire engines present.

“We’ve had several auto fires in our area that we were the first ones at, and this foam would have been an asset, as water spreads oil and gas fires. This foam increases the efficiency of water on other fires, and adds time when it’s added in fireguarding.”

Midgley says that the next step is to price a foam dispenser, then shop for one and budget for it as an addition to the society’s gear.

“A foam machine would be nice to have. We sat there one night for a number of hours just south of 16 Mile with a truck on fire with a load of wood, and traffic backed into Cache Creek and Clinton for hours. We didn’t have anything legal to go on the fire with, so we finally put a lot of sand on it and pushed it into ditch. A five-gallon pail of foam is all you need for a fire, so we need to price it out.”

Ever since the fires of 2017, Midgley says the question asked in rural areas is what do you do for fire protection when you’re not an incorporated community. With the equipment that has been donated over the years, 16 Mile has a leg-up, but has not gone the formal fire department route.

“We thought of putting in a brigade at one point, and had the fire commissioner and someone from the TNRD come out. What it amounted to was quite a commitment to start a brigade. You need someone on hand all the time and a whole lot of training goes along with it. And most of us couldn’t qualify to be a firefighter anymore.

“What we have is a community with stakeholders who have taken ownership of the situation and gone ahead with in-kind hours and donated funds and donated equipment. That’s gone a long way to save the community from fires over the last two decades.”

Midgley — who now lives in Cache Creek — lived in 16 Mile for 28 years, and says that residents are always the first people on scene when a fire happens.

“Forestry will come, but they take an hour-and-a-half to get there. There are a number of times where we’ve put out hydro pole fires, and that saves BC Hydro money and prevents lengthy outages.

“We’ve helped out at Hat Creek, and been to fires within 15 to 20 minutes. We have a cargo trailer with a water tank in it, all ready to go.”

Midgley says the community is lucky that volunteers got started 20 years ago, and that the society has benefited from donations, including a one-acre piece of land where they store their equipment. It was donated by the original developer of 16 Mile, and the covenant states that the land must always be held in the community’s name.

“A lot of stuff has been donated. It might not be up to par, but it’s saved our bacon. We have half-a-dozen water carts, hoses, and uniforms that have been donated, and any cash we get hold of we use for equipment. It’s been our own skins we’ve saved.”



editorial@accjournal.ca

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