Fire protection agreement signed between Burns Lake and Wet’suwet’en

Residents in the Wet’suwet’en First Nation’s Palling reserve can now call 911 incase of a fire emergency.

It and the Village of Burns Lake signed a five-year Fire Protection Services Agreement on Friday after two-and-a-half years of negotiation.

“Prior to that, we did not have any fire protection services and were pretty much on our own,” said Chief Maureen Luggi.

She added no fire protection was in place for the First Nation because it fell outside the village boundary.

“Up until the agreement was signed, we have lost five homes that were burned to the ground,” Luggi said.

It also gives the community a sense of community according to the chief.

“We have a service agreement with the Lake Babine Nation as well as Ts’il Kaz Koh but those two nations are within our village boundary so this is the first one outside of the boundary with a First Nation,” said Mayor Henry Wiebe.

He added he was glad an agreement could be reached and is beneficial to both Wet’suwet’en and Burns Lake with the possibility of acting as a stepping stone for future agreements.

The fire department will be visiting the First Nation to assess its current infrastructure and create plans to prepare if a fire should break out.

Luggi added it is looking at starting discussions to implement fire protection for the Duncan Lake reserve.