New mandatory training for firefighters will cause some issues for local fire departments.
That’s according to Madawaska Valley Fire Chief Corwin Quade, who is the head of an entirely volunteer-run fire crew.
Under the new certification, any firefighters starting work after January 2019 would require new training. Quade says that this means quite a few members of the Madawaska Valley Fire Department.
As for firefighters currently on the crew, Quade says they can be grandfathered in under the new regulations if they have more than five years of experience.
He says all of them have enough experience, but they’ll need to submit applications in order to be grandfathered in.
All 26 firefighters in Madawaska Valley have five years or more experience.
Quade says he’s working with the township to figure out how to get new firefighters training without if effecting taxpayer dollars in the future.