Municipal Services

Established in 1981 by municipal bylaw, the Village of Port Clements operates a fire department made up of volunteer firefighters from the community and called the Port Clement Volunteer Fire Department (P.C.V.F.D or PCVFD).

By bylaw, the Fire Department consists of one (1) Fire Chief, one (1) Deputy Fire Chief, two (2) Captains, up to fourteen (14) Regular Firefighters, up to ten (10) Junior Firefighters and an unrestricted number of Reserve Firefighters (normally retired Firefighters).

A person can become a Regular Firefighter if they are at least 18 years of age and not more than 65 years of age. If they are between the ages of 16 to 18 years of age, then they can become a Junior Firefighter. A person interested in joining the Fire Department can contact the Fire Department.

The current Fire Chief is Mike Van Herd, while the Deputy Fire Chief is Eli Beachy.

The Fire Department and Fire Chief oversee applicants and the probationary period of a potential Firefighter, but Firefighters are appointed to the Fire Department by Council. After the probationary period has concluded the Fire Chief makes recommendation and submits the application form to Council on whether the potential member should be appointed or not, and then Council decides whether to follow that recommendation and appoint the new Firefighter to the department. If the person has not been appointed by Council, they are not considered a member of the Village’s fire department and are not permitted to participate in department activities such as attending response calls (due to insurance and legal liabilities). However, they may be a member of the Port Clements Firemen’s association, which, while containing overlapping membership of the department’s firefighters, is a separate entity from the municipal department and municipality and has their own rules on membership to their association.

While fire protection services are provided outside of municipal boundaries, unless the property owner has entered into an annually renewed fire protection agreement with the Village and paid the $150/year fee for that agreement, deployment of the Village’s fire department to respond to a call outside of municipal boundaries is at a cost of $250/hour or the current charge of the Provincial Emergency Program call out rate.

These fees are subject to change, so it is best to contact the Village Office to confirm what the current rate is.