Making the best in a ‘terrible’ situation

Heather Wright/The Independent

They’ve had to jump through a lot of hoops, but former Inwood firefighters are ready to “make the best of a terrible situation” and invest in their community.

The former Inwood Firemen’s Association is now the Inwood Firemen’s Community Organization and is preparing to offer scholarships and grants to the community it served.

In 2019, the majority of the firefighters resigned after a dispute with Brooke-Alvinston council.

By 2020, the municipality had centralized firefighting out of the Alvinston Hall, leaving the Inwood hall vacant.

The firemen’s association owned the building, using not only as a base for the department but as a place for community functions, like stag and doe parties.

There were attempts to strike a deal with Brooke-Alvinston for the building but they all failed.

So, the association put the building up for sale. A local business eventually purchased it for “upwards of $200,000” says Matt Pasut of the new Inwood Firemen’s Community Organization.

The firemens’ association announced in 2020 it planned to set up a charitable organization with the cash. Pasut says that was a lot harder than they expected. “CRA and COVID didn’t mix well, and it was a whole massive pain …but we finally got to the end of it.”

The first order of business for the IFCO will be a scholarship program.

“More information is going to come out on that in the next month or so, but it’s going to be geared towards kids in the rural community looking to pursue a career in skilled trades or agriculture,” says Pasut. There will also be grants for community organizations.

“We’re trying to make the best out of a terrible situation…We never wanted the fire department to be dismantled. We never wanted to see things go as it did, but here we are, and we’re hoping to make the best out of a bad situation that transpired there.”