Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, fire protection services in the NWT are reliant on volunteer firefighters. The dedication, time, and effort that volunteers invest in keeping our communities safe are invaluable.
The Fort Providence Fire Department currently has 14 active and engaged volunteers. I am pleased to see community members stepping up to take the new positions with the fire department, and have no doubt that they will continue to protect the community from harm.
Mr. Speaker, new volunteers have had three team meetings to clean and organize the fire hall. Firefighter Level I training took place May 25th to the 27th. Firefighter Level II training is scheduled for July 6th to the 8th. Plans are in place for air brakes training and first aid courses.
Pending the successful Firefighter II training in July, the volunteers will be ready to return to a response community. Until that point, we are still a non-response community.
Mr. Speaker, as a new group of volunteers come in, we must also say thanks to those who served before them. Previous fire chief Andy Sapp, Malcolm Tosh, Kelvin McLeod, and Jimmy Nadli have invested years of service in keeping Fort Providence safe. Thank you to those who have served in the past. I wish the best to the new intake. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.