The Silton Volunteer Fire Department is temporarily out of service following the dismissal of its longtime chief and deputy. Corey Coons says he was surprised to be dismissed as volunteer fire chief after spending 20 years with the Silton Fire Department. “Since [I’ve been let go], the members have been locked out of the hall. The fire department’s no longer operating at this time,” he said. The Silton Volunteer Fire Department serves a large area along the east shore of Last Mountain Lake, encompassing a number of resort communities and farms. The communities and the RM fund the fire department while Silton operates it. The chief promoted a regional governance structure to address some of his concerns. “I felt I had some very relevant safety and liability concerns and I was trying to get things addressed properly,” Coons said. The village dismissed Coons and his deputy, prompting some members of the roughly 20-person volunteer force to reconsider their positions. “I put in my resignation as soon as they fired Corey, seeing what he was trying to do to improve our transparency and accountability,” said former volunteer firefighter Nic Skulski. The village has appointed a new chief and deputy and hopes the volunteers all stay on. Silton Mayor Murray Wild says Coons overstepped his area of jurisdiction and the decision to dismiss him was not taken lightly. “It was very unanimous. A few things that have been going on for a while and it kind of came to a head and council didn’t feel we could move forward. So we felt we had to make a change,” Murray said. The Silton Fire Department will be closed for about three weeks to give the replacement chief time to settle in an to determine who’s in and who’s out on his volunteer team. Fire departments from Lumsden and Earl Grey will respond to any calls in the meantime.
