Shawville council passed a draft on May 13 of an agreement that could see the Shawville-Clarendon Fire Department (SCFD) extend its services to the Municipality of Thorne.

This is the latest in a series of drafts that began last year, when a joint fire committee between Shawville and Clarendon began considering a possible agreement to include servicing Thorne.

While the agreement passed at Shawville council is not final and may still see modifications, mayor Bill McCleary said the agreement could look something like the one Shawville and Clarendon have with Portage du Fort, which pays an annual fee of $25,000 plus the expenses of fires on its territory.

“Thorne is similar except they still have a fire hall, they still have a fire truck, they just don’t have anybody to man it that’s qualified,” he said.

McCleary said his council was interested in the agreement with Thorne because it would bring in extra money for the department.

“They’ll be paying us a service fee to provide them with fire service. It can be put toward a truck,” he said, as an example.

Thorne has been serviced by a joint department with Otter Lake called Pontiac North since 2021, when the two departments merged due to low firefighter numbers in Thorne.

But Thorne mayor Karen Daly Kelly said they are considering an agreement with the Shawville-Clarendon department because of its proximity to Thorne’s territory.

“It’s mainly the ease of access and the compatibility element,” she said.

Kelly said sometimes both Pontiac North and SCFD respond to calls on Thorne Lake and other locations on the border between Thorne and Clarendon municipalities, and she hopes the agreement will do away with some of those mix-ups.

She said Thorne will wait for the draft agreement to be passed by Shawville and Clarendon councils before making its own decision. Although Thorne is under agreement with Otter Lake for fire service, Thorne director general Jessica Ménard said the agreement can be terminated on 30 days’ notice.

At Clarendon’s first monthly meeting, also on May 13, council suggested some modifications to the draft agreement, although those changes are not public yet because it is a draft.

The joint Shawville-Clarendon fire committee will meet again this week to review the changes, and if a final version is agreed upon the draft could go back to a vote at Clarendon council for its second monthly meeting next week.

McCleary said if Clarendon passes the draft, it would then be seen again by Shawville council before finally going to Thorne.

“But Shawville-Clarendon has to get their ducks in a row before it can go to Thorne,” he said. “This is all hypotheticals until there’s a final verdict.”