If not for the selfless dedication of small-town volunteer firefighters, residents in municipalities like Ritchot and Niverville would have one more reason to worry. These volunteers put in many hours of service to make us all safer. They train and educate in exchange for the opportunity to drop everything at a moment’s notice and rush out to save a life, home, or business.
The Citizen reached out to the fire chiefs of Ritchot and Niverville to find out what 2024 meant for their dedicated emergency crews.
Ritchot Fire Department
Scott Weir, acting fire chief for the Ritchot department, has been with the department for more than 25 years. He oversees about 60 volunteer firefighters in the municipality’s three fire halls, located in Ste. Agathe, St. Adolphe, and Île-des-Chênes.
In 2024, he says, his members responded to almost 150 calls. On average, this equates to more than 12 calls per month or a whopping three calls per week.
This past year, the department was able to add a large new water tanker truck to their inventory, thanks to grants from the municipality and higher levels of government.
“We have used our new tanker several times with large structure fires which were outside the water area,” Weir says. “We would have called for mutual aid for a tanker from a neighbouring department, most likely Niverville or Tache, if we didn’t have both of ours.”
Alongside fire calls, the Ritchot department also provided assistance to the RCMP on three occasions last year and to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) six times.
They provided mutual aid to Niverville’s fire department on three occasions when it came to larger structure fires. No other municipality called on Ritchot for aid last year.
On 43 occasions in 2024, the department responded to what turned out to be false alarms. These are typically related to kitchen fires or smoke detector activations. Three separate times, they were called to check out strange odours.
Weir isn’t aware of a single incident of arson within the RM last year.
To prepare for all these calls, Weir says his department runs through fire drills twice per month with the exception of two months in summer.
There are several things residents can do to help keep their families safer, according to Weir.
“You can make sure to check your carbon monoxide detectors, especially with the cold weather we have had,” he says. “You want to make sure the [home’s] exhaust vents don’t get plugged up with snow and to run vehicles outside the garage so the exhaust doesn’t enter the home.”
Niverville Fire and EMS
Keith Bueckert is the long-time fire chief for Niverville’s Fire and EMS department. His fire crew responded to 82 calls last year, mostly within town limits. The EMS crew was busier, being called out on 210 separate occasions.
This equates to about 25 emergency calls per month, or just over six per week.
To Bueckert’s knowledge, there were no incidences of suspected arson, although mutual aid was needed on a number of occasions.
“We did have a couple calls outside of our area,” Bueckert says. “One call was to help with a serious accident on Highway 59 with our [rescue tools]. Another call was where our water tanker was needed in Ritchot for a large barn fire.”
As for false alarms, Bueckert chooses not to comment.
Apart from actual emergency callouts, though, he says it’s important for any community to recognize the sheer number of additional hours an emergency worker dedicates while in this role.
In 2024, he says, Niverville’s emergency workers had 234 events in which they gave freely of their time. These included training or truck equipment checks on a biweekly basis. Others provided regular fire safety inspections in businesses, seniors housing units, and public buildings. Volunteer workers also provide public education on an ongoing basis, such as in the town’s schools.
“Our members accumulated 3,837 hours for the Town of Niverville in 2024,” Bueckert says. “Our members come from all walks of life and careers. I would like to thank their families for the time they allow our members to be away, and also our local businesses which allow their employees to respond to calls.”
Finally, Bueckert says it’s important for Niverville residents to understand who their fire and EMS members are and the benefits they bring to the community.
“We are a paid on-call service which has 35 members currently,” says Bueckert. “All members are trained to National Fire Protection Association standards for both level one and two firefighters. Our members also have [training in] pump operation, vehicle extrication, hazmat operation, and water rescue.”
Eighteen of Niverville’s members are licensed paramedics or emergency medical responders. Another thirteen have emergency first aid training, which requires 75 to 100 hours of time for certification.
