Julien St-Jean

Mansfield et Pontefract Sept 10, 2021

Last month, volunteer firefighters from the Mansfield Fire Department began using flashing green lights in personal vehicles to respond to emergency calls.

According to the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, a green light is a courtesy light that helps make firefighters more visible in emergency situations. Firefighters may activate their lights when heading to the fire station or when heading to an incident using a personal vehicle.

“It doesn’t consider a personal vehicle as an emergency vehicle, but it’s just asking the other users on the road for courtesy to let them pass whenever they see a vehicle coming with a green light on,” said Mansfield Fire Chief Pat Bertrand. “Meaning it’s to save time on response for emergencies.”

Bertrand added that drivers are not required to pull over for vehicles with green lights, but are encouraged to do so. He noted that firefighters only receive a light after completing a three hour course.

According to Bertrand, Mansfield is the first fire department in the MRC Pontiac to start using the flashing green light. The Flashing Green Light went into effect in Quebec on April 1 and has been in use in Ontario since 1994.