A Good News Story!
Garibaldi Fire Department's Recent Grant Put to Extraordinary Good Use For The Sea to Sky Community
A letter from the Garibaldi Volunteer Fire Department
July 2023:
"Last year the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation generously contributed towards the purchase of a new Wildland truck for the Garibaldi Volunteer Fire Department (GVFD). The purpose of this apparatus was to give the GVFD the ability to respond rapidly, and aggressively attack a wildfire before it could spread and cause major damage in the Sea to Sky corridor.
On Sunday July 9th this truck served its purpose perfectly. At 07:32 on the 9th, GVFD was paged out for report of a wildfire at the south end of Lucille lake. The access to this site was on a rugged FSR and the Wildland truck was able to navigate the road with no problem at all, bringing water and personnel to the scene as quickly as possible. The truck is also equipped with a 1” booster line that allowed us to get water on the fire with minimal personnel and start the process of extinguishing it almost immediately after arrival.
The fire was directly under the high induction power lines that run through the corridor, which would make air drops difficult at best – BC Wildfire was given the option of deenergizing these lines which would have cut off power to thousands. Given the equipment that was brought to the scene, the decision was made to keep the lines energized as it was felt the fire could be contained. After 10 hours the fire was knocked down sufficiently enough that we were able to declare it under control. Crews came back the following day and completed the process of extinguishing it.
On behalf of the GVFD, we thank you for your generosity and wanted you to know that without this new truck, July 9th could have been a very different day for the Sea to Sky corridor."
Help us continue to support our local communities by participating in the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation’s summer fundraiser, the TELUS Golf Classic to be held on Friday, September 8. Contact us for more information: info@whistlerblackcombfoundation.com
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