Catchy title for a letter from the fire department right? I am writing on behalf of your island fire department board. There’s so much going on right now, including some new infrastructure on the island that you might have noticed, so I wanted to update you on what’s been going on with the department.

We Have New board members-
At our AGM a couple months ago our membership voted in the board again, as well as a couple new members: Mark Lombard and Sandy Hoffmann. If you see them around the island, please share your thanks to them for their service. You can see the full board here: https://cortesfire.org/our-team/#chief-board

We Have a New website-
Check out our new website: https://cortesfire.org/. You’ll see that it allows us to do real time updates and also has a wealth of information, including fireban status.

We Have a New Annual Report-
To ensure transparency, accountability for our utilization of tax dollars, and to outline our activities, we’ve produced a comprehensive annual report for 2023. Please check it out: https://cortesfire.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CIFFA_AnnualReport_2023_FINAL.pdf

We Have a New Fire Truck-
For over a decade, we have been working to replace truck 101, the workhorse of our department, which is many years past its expected usable life. I am so pleased to let you know that our new truck has now arrived on Island. We bought it used from the Southern United States. Mark Lombard, as his initiation onto the board, agreed to drive it home. You’ll likely see it around the island in the days ahead.

We Have New Water Tanks-
One of the most important factors in fighting a fire is water. To ensure that we have enough water in all parts of the island, we have just purchased 6 new water tanks and placed them in the South, Central, and Northern parts of the island. Each one holds 13,000 gallons. With this new water resource, we are hoping to gain a higher firefighting designation, which, when achieved could significantly reduce your home insurance costs. And, we’ll be more effective in fighting fires! These were purchased used in Alberta, trucked and barged here and are almost done being installed and set-up. We’ll have them ready for the summer.

We Have a New Wildfire Brigade-
On June 8th, we are doing an intake for volunteers for our new wildfire brigade. In just a weekend, you’ll be trained to support the department in dealing with a wildfire. We need everyone we can get to be trained and ready to help! Here’s the link to sign-up to be a volunteer. https://cortesfire.org/join-us

We Have a New Contract with the SRD-
For those of you that are tracking our activities, your know that we’ve had some drama with the Strathcona Regional District in the last year in getting our contract renewed. I am extremely pleased to let you know that earlier this week the SRD board approved our new contract. In particular, I want to thank the SRD CAO David Leitch for working through this with us. It gives us security in our funding source for the next 5 years and ensures that we can continue to serve. You can read the entire board report here: https://agenda.strathconard.ca/SRDAttachments/SRDBoard/Open/BRD/22-May-24/20240517-Bylaw-No_-560-CI-Fire-Protection.PDF

I’d really like to thank our Interim Fire-chief, Eli McKenty for his amazing work in the last year in pulling so much together, as well as the great board, who are a dream to work with.

Yours Truly,
Sadhu Aufochs Johnston, CIFFA Board President