Fire department wants Metchosin residents’ old lamps, beds, tables

Remember that hideous lamp Aunt Gladys gave you for your wedding?

Well, if you’re a resident of Metchosin, you might be able to put it to good use.

The Metchosin Fire Department is looking for some old household furniture and appliances for their firefighter training barn.

“If anyone has anything they are looking to get rid of — please call the fire hall or message me here,” Fire Chief Stephanie Dunlop said on social media.

The department is looking for beds, appliances, cupboards, shelving units, chairs, lamps, dressers, tables, but no more couches or recliner chairs, Dunlop said.

People should not drop off items at the station — the fire department will arrange for pickup on Monday. Not all items will be taken.

Dunlop stressed that the callout is not an opportunity to dump garbage. The furniture will not be burned. The fire department is collecting items to be used in search training.

Metchosin firefighters have ongoing training in an old chicken barn on private property, said Dunlop.

The barn, measuring 36 x 24 metres, is split in two. One half is taken up by an obstacle course. Blindfolded firefighters, wearing their self-contained breathing apparatus, pull hoses through a maze and learn how to rescue themselves from confined spaces, entanglements and a collapsed floor.

“It’s a fun way to demonstrate different skills,” Dunlop said. “We all have to learn self-rescue and this is a unique, challenging way to do that.”

The other half of the barn is set up like a house, and that’s where the old furniture will be used. Dummies are placed among the furniture and firefighters practise their search techniques trying to locate them.

“The old stuff is going to get thrown around and waterlogged,” Dunlop said. “It’s going to stick around for a while.”

The Facebook post has attracted offers of an old dishwasher, a microwave, coffee tables and of course, the unwanted couches.

“My thanks to anyone who wants to donate,” Dunlop said. “The community wants to help us out and this helps us, help them.”