Gander fire department down 14 firefighters, recruiting more

Gander Fire Rescue is struggling to maintain volunteer firefighters and is looking to fill 14 positions in order to provide the best fire service.

Chief Paul Fudge believes the degree of commitment required to become a volunteer firefighter is contributing to the lack of volunteers.

"You're on call one week a month, plus your training and your fire call. It's a pretty substantial amount of time that you have to commit to the fire department," Fudge said.

 "More people want to spend more time with their families than volunteering, so I think that has a significant amount to do with the lack of volunteers."

Currently, there are eight paid staff members and 34 volunteer firefighters — leaving a 14-person shortage.

"If we have a fire that's a sustainable fire — in other words a fire that carries on for a longer period of time — we would probably have trouble maintaining a service," Fudge said.

"We would eventually, if it came down to it, have to call in firefighters outside of our municipality to come help us."

Fudge said there are benefits to volunteering, like training that could be applied to other jobs and comradery. 

The fire department is currently recruiting to fill the vacant spots.