dollars, which was used to pay the gas. In 1970 the ambulance service ended because there were too many government regulations required to keep the ambulance running.* (17) In 1966 the fire hall and all within it, including the forestry truck burned. Anna Rattray was the first person to see the fire and call it in. B.J . recalled that when he got to the scene of the fire, it was so hot he could barely get out of his truck. (18) The fire that night burnt the neighboring Clark's store and two of its warehouses, as well as the library located within the fire department building. Earl and Sterling Dwan recalled that after this fire, the Local MLA* got a 1967 Dodge Power wagon to replace the truck that had been burned. (19) Through the years, the department has averaged approximately twenty volunteers. Present Fire Chief David Rossiter recalled that he was enticed to join the department in the early 1980s when then Fire Chief Donnie Sanderson asked twelve young men of the community to join the "junior fire-fighters" program. (20) Young recruits from the community were given basic fire-fighting training. The Provincial Fire Districts were established while Pat Larkin was fire chief in the late 1980s. With the establishing of these districts came a great deal of change. Money, taken off land taxes, was now received from the government for provincial fire departments. David Rossiter recalled that with this government intervention, the budget for the fire department went from $6,000 one year to $24,000 the next year. (21) This budget increase has resulted in many changes within the fire department during the last ten years. New trucks and gear were purchased as the standards of fire fighting were beginning to be stressed in terms of gear and training. In 1990 the department purchased the Jaws of Life.* The department's method of communications also changed around this time. Prior to the early 1990s, the "fire phone" system had been used. There were six fire phones in various department members homes throughout the community, but the system was not effective, as sometimes there would be nobody home during the day when a fire call came though. The department next rented pagers from Island Tel. Eventually the department purchased its own paging system, which operated out of a message and dispatch center in Charlottetown . This method is still being used. It is also around this time that the department members became more acquainted with the "medical" aspect of fire fighting. * The ambulance was sold to Albert Mills of St. Peters in November of 1972. * The MLA for 2nd Kings at this time who was responsible for acquiring the 1967 Power Wagon was Leo Rossiter . * The Jaws of Life is a hydraulic set of tools used at the scene of an accident to cut and spread a car apart. 345