Niverville Fire Chief Keith Bueckert is excited to accept a grant on behalf of the Fire and EMS Department. The $20,000 grant, provided by Richardson International Ltd. of Winnipeg, will be put toward the purchase of another four Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units.
The goal is to acquire enough units to equip every member of the fire department, providing added safety for the members themselves while giving the community the benefit of having more firefighters actively involved in the business of saving homes and lives.
The additional four units will bring Niverville to a total of 18 SCBAs, leaving them only two units away from that goal.
“The SCBA with the bottle is close to $8,500 per unit, so they’re not cheap,” Bueckert says. Bueckert and his team will combine the grant with the $7,500 received from the Fireman’s Ball.
To commemorate the donation, Fire and EMS members, as well as their families and town council, gathered for a dinner on July 30 at the fire hall. Another six to eight families who live in Niverville and work for Richardson International were invited to attend as well.
Bueckert says two members of his team, Deputy Chief Brad Wasilinchuk and firefighter Greg Knox, worked hard at the lengthy application process, which required them to indicate the specifics of Niverville Fire and EMS’s fundraising initiatives and equipment needs.
Knox also works for Richardson International, a Canadian agriculture and food industry company, and made the team aware of the grants the company provides on an annual basis to organizations that make a difference in the agricultural community.
“Our SCBAs are used in all different types of environments that require us to be on air,” Bueckert says. “Whether it’s going into a [collapsed] grain bin or farm fires. They are big on helping in the community and they came through in a big way for us.”
The first ten SCBA units acquired by the Fire and EMS team happened as a result of good fiscal management of the emergency services budget provided by the town every year. The balance were a result of fundraisers such as perogy dinners and the Fireman’s Ball, as well as individual donations.
Residents are reminded to come support the Fire and EMS at their open house in the second week of October during Fire Prevention Week.
