Hanover's fire chief says they are facing a shortage of members who attend daytime calls at the Kleefeld department.

Paul Wiebe says they have noticed over the last year that a number of their members are not available to respond to calls during the day. He notes that means when they get a larger call, they have to call in another station to assist which is an extra $3,000 or $4,000. Wiebe says the group in Kleefeld is dedicated but adds a lot of their members work 30 minutes away or more which makes it difficult to respond to calls on time.

"This is no reflection on the dedication of our people in Kleefeld," Wiebe notes, "they're a very dedicated group, it's just sometimes they're not available the way they used to be."

Wiebe says at the Kleefeld hall specifically, at one time, most of their members were farmers or worked locally but notes that is no longer the case. He adds Kleefeld is more of a bedroom community where people commute elsewhere for work.

"That doesn't happen as much anymore and it's unfortunate but that's just part of the time we're living in so this just means we need to possibly add to our numbers to keep those response numbers where they should be."

Wiebe has asked council for a temporary increase from 18 to 20 members in Kleefeld to improve their response numbers. He hopes this will resolve itself within the next two years.

Wiebe says they spend between $8,000 and $10,000 to outfit and train one new firefighter. He says at that cost, they don't want to start simply dismissing members because they are unavailable to attend daytime calls.

The commitment is still at the top where it should be, it's just being available," he adds. "We live in a different time, people work away from home and they're commuting so it's no reflection on the commitment of our individuals."

Wiebe says it is a large investment to gear up and train a firefighter and notes they do not want to lose them.