By Carole Rooney – 100 Mile House Free Press
Published: September 21, 2011 8:00 AM
Updated: September 23, 2011 1:07 PM
Watch Lake and North Green Lake residents who haven’t paid their fire department membership dues may want to take note they are at risk of having no fire protection services.
A hitherto unknown legal ramification has resulted in a significant change to the firefighting services of the Watch Lake-North Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department (WLNGLVFD).
Non-member residents, including all those who have not paid their membership dues for the current year, will no longer have fire protection services unless they happen to be home and sign a consent form on the spot, and the WLNGLVFD isn’t tied up elsewhere.
If they are at home and willing to sign it, the consent form confirms the property owner acknowledges and agrees to $1,000 an hour (minimum two hours) fee for firefighting services.
WLNGLVFD chief Guy Poliseno says the department made the change when it was discovered they were in contravention of the law to do otherwise.
“We found ourselves in a bind with the law, not realizing that we were not allowed to enter a person’s property if they are not a member of the society, and the property owner could actually sue us for trespassing.”
If there are other fires at the same time, paid-up members get first priority, he adds, although resources are also split according to the size and severity of the fires.
A letter has been sent to non-member residents in the fire response coverage area, explaining that according to the governing bylaw, the WLNGLVFD is under no obligation to respond to fire callouts to non-member properties.
The letter includes formal notification the resident does not have fire protection service; a sample of the consent form and fees that apply; and a reminder their homeowners fire insurance may be invalidated.
Non-member fires with no one at home or a refusal to sign the consent will result in non-attendance to the fire, Poliseno says, adding firefighters will protect any adjacent properties owned by paid-up society members.
The consent letter cannot be signed in advance, however, so the property owner must be on site at the time of the fire to be able to sign it, he explains, before the WLNGLVFD will enter the property and fight the fire – if it has the available resources to do so.
“There are several [volunteer fire department] societies that do this; we are not the only one.”
The annual fees for membership in the WLNGLVFD are $160 for properties with structures or recreational vehicles or $90 for bare land, billed Jan. 1, but is not considered delinquent until by March 1 of that year.
Fire departments under the auspices of the Cariboo Regional District get a nominal hourly fee, but the WLNGLVFD is an independent entity, he notes.
“We are entirely 100 per cent volunteer; we don’t get paid for any firefighting services.
“We want to put the fire out, but we’re not going to take the chance of being sued by the owner of the property.”
