West Kelowna City Council has approved a major budget item, the hiring of 8 new firefighters. When recruited and through local orientation, the squad will increase from 32 members to 40. That says Chief Jason Borlund is vital to both safety and efficiency.
What you may not know is that provincial law stipulates there must be a minimum of 4 firefighters on the scene before any one of them can enter a burning building. With 32 firefighters, West Kelowna has had instances where the first crew has had to wait for a second engine to arrive before aggressively attacking a blaze. The first engine only had 3 firefighters on board. Now with the soon to be 40 firefighters, Borlund says all shifts at West Kelowna's 2 firehalls will be staffed with 4 firefighters, 24 hours a day.
Brolund says they'll recruit across Canada in order to attract the best of the best fully trained and certified candidates.