Volunteers firefighters will soon be a thing of the past at the Moncton Fire Department.
Due to budget cubacks, they’ll be doing away with them starting on January 1st.
Deputy Fire Chief Don McCabe says this affects about 20 volunteers.
He says this was a difficult decision to make for them.
The number of volunteer firefighters has dropped over the years. They used to see almost 100 volunteers who would help with their regular calls, but firefighting has changed, and they are now able to handle structure fires with the team they have.
Volunteers required equipment and clothing and also had to be trained for the role, so that where the costs savings comes in.
This cost cutting measure will save the department about $70, 000.
