Volunteer firefighter numbers continue to decline across Manitoba – Winnipeg

It’s a quiet spring evening in Winnipeg Beach, Man., a resort town an hour north of Winnipeg.

The fire department in town, however, is buzzing. Various volunteer firefighters from across the Interlake are gathering for training.

One of the firefighters taking part is Steven Kneisz, who is with Gimli Fire and Rescue.

“I always wanted to be a firefighter. The goal is full-time but always wanted to do this since I was a kid,” said Kneisz.

Kneisz has been a volunteer firefighter for three years. Just over two of those have been with Gimli’s department.

He thinks it’s a great way to serve the community on top of working full-time.

“It’s home. We’re protecting our neighbours, our family, our friends. It’s huge.”

Whether it’s for fires, collisions or medical emergencies, volunteers answer all sorts of calls when there is trouble in their communities.

Volunteers make up about 70 per cent of departments across Canada.

“We’re the backbone of the fire service and we’re having increasing problems finding people to take on the roles,” Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs president Kevlin Toews said.

Toews is also the chief of the Steinbach Fire Department, a community about 50 minutes southeast of Winnipeg.

Over the past five years, they have seen the number of people applying decrease by 50 per cent. While there is no clear answer for the decline, Toews believes there are a few factors.

“Demand on time, increased training requirements, with these greater demands, there’s a greater demand on family, on employers. It’s just a snowballing effect,” Toews said.

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Winnipeg Beach’s fire Chief Dave Schellenberg has been answering the call for 15 years and said it was a few encounters in the community that saw him take on the role.

“My son went to school and his friend’s dad was on the department. He called and says, ‘You should join. We’re starting a training course next week, you in?’ I said, ‘I’ll give it a shot,’” he said, reflecting on when he first joined the department.

Schellenberg eventually worked his way to chief. That position is still a part-time duty on top of his full-time job. He says it’s becoming harder to find people to join the department.

“It’s not for everybody, people are busy, it is a commitment.”

He says there are things the department is doing to recruit and retain more people.

“We got Facebook, Instagram, we are [on] TikTok, where the younger ones are at,” Schellenberg said. “It’s usually word of mouth. If you know anyone who would like to join, let us know and we’d be happy to have the conversation.”

Toews said the increase in tax credits for volunteer firefighters is a positive step toward getting more people to apply.

He also said getting the families of firefighters more involved has shown some promising results.

“We try and get the family involved. We have a gym at the fire hall where we encourage spouses and kids to come and workout. We had more family events. Getting the family involved is a huge thing, but we first have to get the volunteers and into the hall,” he said.

For Kneisz, joining Gimli Fire and Rescue has given him a second family.

“Doing lots of training together, you get to know each other very well. It does become a brotherhood, even those who are not on the Gimli department.”

“It’s like a family. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Schellenberg added.

Both Kneisz and Shellenberg hope anyone thinking about joining their local fire department takes the plunge.

“It’s needed and we need more people to apply,” said Kneisz.

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