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Fire service contract set for one year for Ainsworth/Woodbury

Nelson Daily Editor
By Nelson Daily Editor
November 8th, 2010

By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily

A one-year interim contract for fire service for 2011 for Ainsworth/Woodbury was agreed to last week by Kaslo village officials, the regional district and the Kaslo fire department.

However, some information and public feedback is still needed in order to finalize a long-term fire protection plan.

An Area D fire service petition process result in September showed a majority of the respondents in favour of the move (50.2 per cent) to sign an agreement with Kalso.

The contract comes in the wake of two major fires four months apart in the rural area south of Kaslo: The Silver Ledge Hotel fire in Ainsworth and the 100-year-old Woodbury Hotel burn in November, 2009.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay board of directors set the wheels in motion to obtain the necessary legal papers and draft bylaw to make good on the sentiment in mid October.

A bylaw has to be passed by the board, incorporating the Village of Kaslo administration contract language that assures village residents their liabilities are covered if the fire department deploys equipment outside their current specified area and there was a fire in Kaslo.

There is some rural fire service in Ainsworth but it has been divided for some time. Although the community raised funds to purchase a 1979 pumper truck one year ago from Kaslo — and fundraised for some basic fire tools — four of the area’s six volunteer members go to Balfour for training, while the other two train in Kaslo.

A site for the new fire hall could be found in Woodbury, with a water tank, electricity and donated land all coming in one package. It will be a satellite hall from the one in Kaslo.

editor@thenelsondaily.com

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