Rankin Inlet Fire Chief Mark Wyatt has just announced a major recruitment drive for the local department in an attempt to bring in 10 new members.
The department's preferred number is 25 and it's currently down to 14 members, and some people are out of the community for the summer.
Wyatt said that's the nature of a volunteer department; sometimes you go through situations where some people leave and some come back.
He said, generally speaking, the department is a rotating door.
"If we get five years out of somebody, we're doing great," said Wyatt. "We've lost a number of five-year members over the past couple of years and we recruit a lot of people who are here to work, and when their contracts expire, off they go."
Wyatt said being down to 14 members is a bit of a concern if there are any major fires in the community. Being that low on volunteers also puts a lot more work onto the existing roster.
"We respond to an awful lot of calls. They're mostly medical calls, but we need three people for each one of those calls and often times we don't have them," the fire chief said.
Wyatt's not surprised that the number of members has fallen so low in a community like Rankin Inlet. He said during the past year or so, they've had a number of members who have left for other communities.
He said it's a bit of a commitment working with the fire department and, often times, it takes its toll on people.
"People leave for a variety of different reasons. When we respond to all sorts of different types of medical emergencies, sometimes it can be too much for people. Other times, it's just workload, family life and things of that nature.
"Some ambulance calls can be pretty jarring for some people, but we talk about that in advance and we do a lot of in-house training on medical calls and things like that. But, sometimes, there are pretty major ATV accidents and sometimes there are things that are worse.
"I try to shield new people from any of the really bad calls. Most of them I handle myself, but I'm not always here. It's not so much the bad calls that drive people away. It's more the time commitment, family and that sort of thing. And, also, again, people's work contracts expire and they go back home."
Wyatt said the biggest thing they're looking for is someone who has the right attitude. He said the department provides all the training, so volunteers don't really need to come in with a slew of certificates or anything like that.
"We're mostly looking for people who are willing to learn, have a good attitude and can work as a team. I'd like to see people go into training in a big way starting in September."
