by PAUL RAYNER

After 20 years on the Boissevain & Morton Volunteer Fire Department, current Fire Chief Al Scheirlinck is calling it quits.

His retirement from the force will take effect on June 30. He said he picked that date because it would make it exactly 20 years on the department. As for stepping down, he said he made his decision around Christmas of this past year, adding that some hearing problems, particularly when the machines are running, were starting to get in the way.

“We ran into a few situations where it was a problem,” Scheirlinck said. “It’s not fair to the others, if there is miscommunication.”

He said he originally got involved in the department, under then-chief Eric Reichert, as a way of contributing to the welfare of Boissevain.

“Basically, it was to serve the community. It was one way to help out. There are service clubs, but this way is a little bit different. I was young enough then, and I feel I’ve done my part now.”

He said there is no way to say how many call outs he has been involved in in two decades, but added there are usually about an average of 25-30 a year. In fact, he remembered in his first year, it was a warm and windy spring, and they had about 18 calls in April. He added that not all calls are actually fires, but include a multitude of different circumstances, like motor vehicle accidents.

As for all of the people he worked with over the years, Scheirlinck stated he could not begin to count them all. However, the only one left from when he started is his current deputy chief Paul Hamilton.

But he does come up with a number of names, like Gord Turner, Darrell Turner, Keith Burton, Al Burton, Al McDougald, Brian Clark, Doug Harper, Ken Sanderson, Doug Preston, Barry Chinner, Paul Morrisette and Steve Cann. Of course, there is also Reichert and his replacement as chief Richard Dyck. Scheirlinck replaced Dyck in that capacity three and a half years ago.

“They were all terrific people to work with, all of them,” Scheirlinck commented.

He said at present, there are 17 people on the department, a number that stays pretty stable, as there are always people who are willing to join.

He said the job of chief is basically to coordinate and be the head person at any scene. For this, he said he was thankful to Hamilton as deputy, as Scheirlinck feels he could always rely on him. As well, he is involved with setting the department budget alongside representatives of the Town of Boissevain and RM of Morton. The departing chief said at first dealing with councillors was a new situation, but said they are really just “ordinary people doing extraordinary work.”

One of the areas Scheirlinck worked closely with the Councils was as a member of the committee responsible for the new fire hall in town. Located on Mountain Street by the water treatment plant in a facility shared with the Town of Boissevain shop, Scheirlinck is very happy with the new digs.

“The new fire hall is heaven,” he said. “I do a lot of traveling in our mutual aid district, and we by far have the best building.”

Scheirlinck said he would probably take a year off and then find another way to help the community. At the time of the interview, he did not know exactly who his replacement as chief would be, although discussions have been held on the subject He felt there were certainly plenty of capable people already on board to take up the task. He felt he would miss the department.

“I probably will miss it,” he stated. “It was probably one of the toughest decisions in my lifetime. I’m sure I won’t miss the calls at 3 o’clock on a winter morning, but I will miss all of the fire fighters, and the fun we had when we practiced, definitely."