l-r  John Quesnel,  Deputy Chief Cory  Davoren, Marc Witte, Mark Vejoda, Victoria Davoren, Carolyn Netzlaw, Shelly Archer,  Deputy Chief Chris Archer- photos 250News

Salmon Valley, B.C.- The Salmon Valley Volunteer Fire Department has a new  member,  a  beautiful shiny new Tender.

Last night, the  Salmon Valley Fire Department   threw open the doors  in an  open house,  to show off their  new acquisition,  “What this Tender does for us, is it  gives us an extra 1500 gallons of water” says Deputy Chief Cory Davoren.  He says it means that  when the  Salmon Valley Fire Department gets a call for a structure fire,  the second truck will go out  along with the Engine,  “This  truck will dump 1500 gallons of water at the fire, and then we’ll be  start the water shuttle from there.”

The Salmon Valley Fire Department has been putting money aside for the last ten years to buy the new Tender which cost  just  over $300 thousand dollars.   Now they will start saving  so they have enough to  buy a new Engine,  but there is plenty of time for that,  as the Engine is expected to  last for  another 20 years.

The Salmon Valley Fire Department  may be called up  to offer assistance  to one of the other  Volunteer Fire Departments in the Regional District of Fraser Fort George as it has a mutual aid agreement and works  closely with Ness Lake and Pilot Mountain  Volunteer Fire Departments.

Not only will the new tender  be a critical  aid when it comes to  fighting structure fires, it may also help  with  recruitment.  There are  15 active volunteers on the Salmon Valley Fire Department roster right now,  but  the new gear  just  might encourage  others in the area to sign up.

“We’re really  a family” says Deputy Chief Davoren,  and while  he means that  in reference to the comradery of the volunteers,  there really are family members  on the ‘team’.

While prepared and trained to deal with structure fires,   they also  are  the first on scene when there is a medical  emergency in the community of Salmon Valley.  “People  don’t   realize  what we do until  they  need emergency assistance” says fire fighter Victoria Davoren, “But when they call,  we will be there.”

Deputy Chief Cory Davoren   looks forward to hearing from anyone interested in  joining  the Salmon Valley  Volunteer Fire Department “family”.   He can be reached at cdavoren@svvfd.ca