The first meeting of seven  Pictou Island residents who were interested in starting a fire department was held  on March 11, 1981.  The  Pictou Island Volunteer Fire Department was officially incorporated in June, 1981. The stated objectives were to supply fire prevention and firefighting services for the residents and landowners of the island.  Twenty-seven years later, the objectives remain the same.

Over the years, the battles of fund-raising and acquiring suitable firefighting equipment have been an ongoing task.  Many meetings later,  after numerous letter writing campaigns, varied training sessions, and dedicated commitment to the original objectives, the Pictou Island  Volunteer Fire Department survives.

The Pictou Island Fire Department is made up of members of the community, virtually the same people who make up PICA. We do have a separate executive and  Board of Directors. We receive an annual grant from the Municipality of Pictou County that enables us to upgrade our equipment and hopefully, enhance and improve the fire fighting capabilities on the Island.  In 1989, a steel building was erected to house our equipment.

We believe that having fire fighting equipment on site, that is, at each household, significantly increases the chance of extinguishing a fire.
Over the years, we have acquired and distributed a number of backpacks from the Dept. of Natural Resources.  We have purchased and cost shared  fire extinguishers for householders who requested them, and have purchased smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to place in every Island household.

Recently, we surveyed our population to determine the existing status of fire fighting equipment on each property and asked for each household to give us a map or sketch of each property to show the location of propane tanks, gas barrels, and water resources.  Most recently,we have installed a pump to access water from our existing well to provide a facility for filling fire fighting equipment. To power the pump, we have  purchased new solar panels and batteries.  We also acquired a Utility Cube Van , a donation , from the West River Fire Department.

First Responders

The Fire Department supports the First Responder Program on the Island. In the mid-nineties, an initiative was taken to start a First Responders Team.  Today, the majority of full time Island residents are certified First Responders.  The provincial EMS has provided us with excellent training and equipment. We regularly take courses from the Red Cross to keep up our skills  and to learn as much as we can to be prepared for any emergency.  We have two cell phones for the exclusive use of First Responders during an emergency. We are well equipped to respond to an emergency with oxygen, defibrillators, stretchers, bandages, etc.  We are also knowledgeable of the procedure for emergency evacuation by Life Flight and the Search and Rescue Zodiac.   We have a helipad site  situated north of the Community Centre that is yearly maintained. We invite and encourage participation in our  First Responders training sessions by anyone interested.  These training sessions will be posted in our Events Calendar.