(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

PINANTAN LAKE - The small community of Pinantan Lake has made several attempts for fire service and some are still working towards that goal despite a majority of residents deciding against a firehall in June of last year.

Rikki and Kelly Ashley are two of the remaining community members working towards getting some form of fire service in Pinantan and are asking for financial donations to support Pinantan Lake Fire through a GoFundMe page online.

“I decided I would throw something out there to get people to contribute to our central services,” Rikki says.

The fire service is a "neighbours helping neighbours" approach, she says.

A group of roughly 30 volunteers plus a few pieces of equipment is what the group is working with at the moment.

The fundraising goal is around $10,000, half of which will go towards service and the other half towards helping volunteers get training and certification. Part of the costs include liability insurance which could be up to $5,000 depending on how many people remain on the roster.

Beyond community fire service, she notes the training could dovetail well with future wildfire training.

“We’re trying not to broach the community so soon after the referendum,” Rikki says. "People are sensitive to putting money out for fire prevention. It’s still a touchy subject. Those who wanted the firehall are still upset it's not there."

The firehall proposal fell through after only a portion of community members returned a signed petition form to the Thompson Nicola Regional District last summer.

The community still has land for the firehall after the district donated it, but Ashely says nothing has been done with it yet. The group also has its firetruck currently on the market. Rikki says the association is hoping to use profits from the sale towards other pieces of equipment which hold a larger amount of water, like a water tender truck.

"We’ve actually been getting a few good nibbles on (the ad for the truck). Someone wanted to convert it to a motorhome, someone else wants to have it to possibly use it for washing their logging trucks off,” she says.

To get in touch with the Pinantan Lake Fire Association, email Ashley at pinantanlakefire@gmail.com.

To view the association’s GoFundMe page click here.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2016