Outlook CAO speaks on newly minted fire rescue team

After the official announcement of the formation of Outlook-Rudy Fire and Rescue, West Central Online reached out to Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Outlook Kevin Trew to get more details on the newly minted fire crew.

Serving Outlook and the local RM of Rudy, along with the communities of Broderick and Glenside for many years already, Trew went more in depth as to what's actually happening.

"They have been working together for a number of years, but we definitely had some conversations in early 2021 about the fire department and the relationship the two municipalities have with each other regarding the fire departments," said Trew, "It really came to fruition because the RM of Rudy was very much interested in becoming a partner owner in the fire department. Prior to that the Town had owned it outright, and simply had an agreement with the RM of Rudy."

They were very happy to see the initiative from the local RM to become a "full-fledged partner" and that really was the driving force behind the new agreement.

"That's really where this came about from, it was on the bequest of the RM of Rudy."

Since they have already been working together the announcement was something of a long time coming, as they were just waiting for some good news to accompany the official release. That exciting news came in the form of a new rescue unit, a much-needed 2023 Ford F550 4X4 equipped with rescue tools, including new Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) equipment and also the ability to house other existing equipment.

"We decided that it was a really good opportunity when we were announcing that we would be purchasing a new rescue van together," said Trew about waiting for the right time. Another big build coming Outlook's way also played a major part in the recent announcement, "Also the opportunity to be discussing the new fire hall, and the fundraising we are going forth with for the new Hall. Maybe we could have made the announcement (earlier), but we wanted to piggyback off something that was really exciting that we would be doing together."

The current Outlook Fire Department building is attached to the town office complex. This will continue until the new fire hall is built, but now that the discussions have been ramping up more and more over the years the new facility is looking like a reality. Their new official partners will have a say in the construction.

"There's been conversation about a fire hall for quite some time. The Town had actually proceeded to get designs in place and had actually done some work regarding it. We are now actually going back to the drawing board on that with the RM of Rudy involved with the build."

Trew said the new plans must be sustainable, manageable, and something that can work within the RM of Rudy as well as the Town of Outlook. It's too early to cement any of their fundraising plans. Still, major money raising opportunities are being tabled and can be expected from the joint team over the next few years as Outlook-Rudy Fire and Rescue ushers in a new era of emergency service to the area.