Fire trucks have been sitting idle in the Silton Fire Hall for about three weeks after more than half of their 20 members were either dismissed or resigned amid a dispute over regional governance and funding. The Village of Silton is working to rebuild its volunteer fire department. “This has been all consuming for our small village and it’s time to move on and that’s it,” Silton Mayor Murray Wild said. The dispute involved village council and a group of volunteer firefighters over regional governance issues and funding. Former volunteer firefighter Nic Skulski said members wanted an opportunity to discuss their concerns with council. We had our big meeting there. Everyone was hoping to talk to council. We just wanted some accountability, some transparency," he said. The village believes its volunteer fire department is well funded and an informal mediation attempt has been made. “They had their list of grievances and we are moving forward. At our Wednesday evening council meeting, we made motions, used our bylaws and those members have all been terminated. They no longer represent the village or the fire department,” Wild said. Recruitment is underway to bring in additional volunteers, who will undergo training before responding to emergencies. Deputy Fire Chief Bob Wilson said the initial focus will be getting new recruits ready for essential calls. “Crash training immediately to bring them up to a capability to handle a fire situation and the STARS helicopter landing situation also and then when we get further into the winter, of course, we’ll upgrade the training further,” he said. Fire departments from Lumsden and Earl Grey will continue to provide service to this area as Silton regroups and trains additional volunteer firefighters. The Silton Fire Department could be up and running in about two weeks with neighbouring fire departments always helping each other out when required.
