Firefighters or Clean Up Crews?

July 9, 2011 2am Baxters Harbour Nova Scotia

I contacted CBC NEWS on Saturday to offer them this news short shot in broadcast HD. Instead, they went to the expense of shooting their own story. That's the media for you. No honor :(

Some residents of Baxters Harbour Nova Scotia, a peaceful Bay of Fundy coastal community, were awakened at 2am by the sounds of sirens and fire trucks. A fire alarm was called in by a local resident, Rick Graham, after another neighbor whose phone was knocked out by the fire, came to his door asking him to make the 911 call. The house which was already a blazing inferno when the call was received, was totally destroyed by the time emergency vehicles arrived at the scene 20 to 25 minutes later. Other trucks also arrived from Kentville, Halls Harbour, New Minas and Scotts Bay. The family, who owned the house, were apparently away at their cottage for the weekend and their house was empty at the time of the fire.

Some Baxters Harbour residents have been concerned about the lengthy response times of the Canning Fire Department, owing to the distance they must travel to reach their coastal community. Residents have been lobbying for a sub-station or other arrangement that might reduce emergency response times and risks to neighboring properties. The problem lies not in the lack of training, dedication or competency of the firefighters, but in the limited resources they have to work with. The fire chief held up his two way radio to me stating, "We need more of these." Mr. Graham, who expressed great admiration for the volunteer firefighters, stated if the county cannot find it within our tax dollars to improve emergency response times to our community perhaps they need only send clean up crews.

The average age of Volunteer Fire Fighters has been slowly rising as departments are finding it more difficult to recruit new members. This may be yet another side effect of our struggling economic times. Some volunteer fire fighters in the Canning department are juggling two jobs in addition to their commitment to protecting their community.


-Dave Hockey, Baxters Harbour

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• baxters
• harbour
• fire
• july0902am

[flickeringtorches]

Good job, Dave! Very well presented with good questions posed to your interview subjects. Audio was crystal clear, lighting was excellent.

[valleytenderfoot]

Very good video Dave, thanks for posting.