Keith Bueckert has been re-instated by Niverville Town Council as Fire Chief for another four years.  

Bueckert has been a First Responder in the community for more than 20 years and being asked to continue his post as Fire Chief is humbling for him.

“It's something that requires a lot of time and effort from everyone. Our entire leadership group puts a lot of time and effort, and myself and our two deputies and all of our officers and members take a lot of time to make sure that we're providing the best service we can in a volunteer setting.” 

Niverville Fire & EMS 2022Niverville Fire & EMS 2022

Bueckert commends the Niverville Fire & EMS team. “The guys do get some money for responding to calls, but there's still a lot of time that is put in, that isn't paid for. So, to have a group of dedicated volunteers and then the Town Council trusting our leadership group to move forward as we've been doing these last number of years, it's quite humbling to be named Fire Chief again.” 

When asked about an update on the possibility of a new fire hall for Niverville, Bueckert says, “It's still very early on in the discussions with the town. The nice thing is the town does recognize that both the services (Public Works and Fire & EMS) require more space. We are going to work with them to hopefully find the best suitable situation for both groups. We're hoping that this starts with some land acquisition. But right now, Council does have it on their radar, and they are working to come to some resolution to meet the needs of both the fire department and public works in town.” 

Mayor Myron Dyck says, as a Council, they are continuing to work on a plan. He says, “Fire Halls need to be front and center on your Main Street. You can't bury them in an industrial park, for instance, right? And so, if the annexation doesn't go through, or even if it does go through if there's no land on Hwy 311 available for purchase, and we know we need the room, then it could mean that we would refurbish what we have, on that spot, because the Public Works Yard doesn't necessarily need Hwy 311 frontage.” 

Dyck suggests an idea might be to move their Public Works Yard to the Industrial Park and have the Fire Hall expand in their existing facility.  

“We just know we need more space for both, but we don't know how it's going to play out and what land would or wouldn't be available. Perhaps there’s a landowner that is willing to sell the property, but the market price is too high, then Council will have to look at different options too. For now, we're looking to separate the two departments because both need more space.”