Bear Lake VFD

06/04/2026

Relay pumping and flowing large volumes of water during last night's training. Members learned;
- Static water supply.
- Draft with and without a primer.
- Relay/compound pumping.
- Engine 11 Master streams.
- Transitioning water sources.

They experienced the GPM limitations of the floating suction strainer, and how different modes on computer controlled pump panels work, and what to do when an alarm sounds.

We changed the Engine 11 monitor from an oversized combination, to a solid bore stacked tip for a lower pressure, high GPM flow rate.

Excellent work by all!

06/03/2026

Bear Lake Volunteer Fire Department is looking for donations of scrap cars, trucks, vans and suvs within Bear Lake that we can use to train for Auto Extrication. If you have one please send us a message so we can chat about it. Must be on wheels to move and accessible. Thanks everyone !

06/02/2026

Good morning Bear Lake. BC Wildfire Service will be performing a controlled burn south of the town this morning. If you see smoke rising this may be the cause. Do not hesitate to call 911 or *5555 if you suspect smoke coming from a different location. An official social media post should be out shortly and we will share that as soon as it is out.

06/01/2026

The Bear Lake Fire Department had a busy month of May with callouts and training. We responded to:

1 Wildland Fire.
1 "red" medical call.
2 "purple" medical calls.
3 Motor Vehicle Incidents.

Members attended 36 hours of additional training on weekends that included Incident Command: Strategies and Tactics, Technical Rope Rescue, and Critical Incident Stress Management.

Our Lt. Thibault attended a week-long conference with over 100 firefighters from around the province and took part in several courses, both classroom and hands-on.

Thank you to our Firefighters and First Responders for your dedication and time you give to the community.

As many saw, there was a major incident on the highway yesterday, and we need to remind everyone to give all First Responders ample room to work and give the patient privacy. Traffic control zones and emergency vehicles are set up and parked where they are for a reason. We will stop and direct traffic for the safety of First Responders and maintain the scene for any possible investigation. It is never acceptable to cross a line of cones no matter where you want to go.

Please be safe, everyone; the hot, dry weather is here, and wildfire season has already begun in many areas of the province. Let's help make June a quiet month!

We are always looking for more responders. Come join us any Wednesday at 18:00 to meet us and fill out an application!

05/30/2026

The fire department had an interesting event today. A young couple with a beautiful long haired dark shepherd came for help with porcupine quills in her nose and chest. While we managed to remove 3, it was clearly not going to be a quick process and did not want to cause further stress to both her and her people. We wish we could have done more for what was obviously a painful and scary situation for your dog and we hope you were able to find a vet who could help with pain managmemt and removal of the rest of the quills.

05/28/2026

Another great practice tonight setting up sprinklers and handlines for structure protection using a closed loop system. Great teamwork tonight, many hands make light work....so come join us !!

05/27/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Ngxkbh1se/

Effective at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday May 28, 2026 Category 2 and Category 3 open burning and other associated activities will be permitted in the Prince George Forest District (Prince George and Robson Valley Fire Zones).

A Category 2 and Category 3 open fire prohibition remains in effect in the Stuart Nechako Forest District (Vanderhoof/Fort St James Fire Zone). The following activities and equipment are also prohibited in this zone:
• binary exploding targets
• fireworks
• burn barrels or burn cages
• controlled air incinerators
• air curtain burners and carbonizers

Read our information bulletin for more details: https://blog.gov.bc.ca/bcwildfire/category-2-and-3-prohibitions-to-be-rescinded-for-parts-of-the-prince-george-fire-centre-2/

05/23/2026

BLVFD’s Lieutenant Thibault was hard at work at The BC Fire Training Officers Association Conference held in Campbell River last week. She took part in some hands-on training in Technical Rope Rescue with highline as well as Auto Extrication. Both extremely valuable skills, especially in our Response area where the closest mutual aid is an hour away at best. We look forward to practicing these skills with her and bringing both into our scope of practice soon.

While attending the Conference, she has also taken part in multiple Officer Training Programs inside the classroom to further her knowledge and gain valuable skills in Command training. We are so grateful for all the time and hard work Lieutenant Thibault has put into the Department and training over the last few years. Looking forward to watching what her and her team get up to this coming year. Give us a follow so you can see too !

05/21/2026

More wildland fire training using the tender and porta tank for water support. Everyone is really dialing in their skills and our set up and water shuttling times were our best yet. Great work tonight Everyone 👏

05/17/2026

Late last night, the Fire Department responded to a report of a wildland fire caused by fireworks. This was in an area with rough access, limited turnaround places and no emergency egress route.

With the warmer weather and first long weekend the risks to our forests, community, and residents is higher than ever.

If you choose to celebrate and use fireworks at the same time, please do it in a responsible fashion that does not put your community at risk. Use a designated person to ignite from a safe area away from trees and other combustable sources.

Due to the nature of the incident and the location, both the Salmon Valley Fire Dept and Pilot Mountain Volunteer Fire Department were called for mutual aid. This reduces the available firefighters in their own community to help ours.

As of May 5th, Prince George Fire Center of the BC Wildfire Service has banned the use of fireworks due to the fire risk as defined in the Fireworks Act of BC.

Any person who causes a fire during a fire ban may be liable for costs and heavy fines. Please see the following and stay current with the latest wildfire status and restrictions.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/about-bcws/governance/legislation-regulations/summary-of-fines

Fortunately, this did not spread. However this very quickly could have been catastrophic for property and lives.

The safety of our firefighters will always come first, No exceptions. If this situation escalated it may have resulted in the department initiating an emergency evacuation of the area. If we cannot access the location safely with trucks and equipment and ensure a safe escape route the risks can become too high and a decision may be made to stage a distance away until a full assessment can be completed.

PLEASE .. be safe.

Thank you to our mutual aid fire depratmemts for being available and able to respond with an additional Engine, Tender and several more firefighters.