After over a century of service, the City of Port Moody says it will defund its local volunteer firefighters association.

The city’s 2025 provisional budget does not include funding for the Port Moody Volunteer Firefighters Association, which is managed by Port Moody Fire Rescue.

Tyson Nicholas, who has been with the Port Moody Volunteer Firefighters Association for 21 years, said the group, which has been in place since the city was incorporated in 1913, learned it was being disbanded last week.

“It’s a little disappointing, of course,” said Nicholas. “It’s become part of my nature.”

He said 15 new team members had just joined in the past year.

“They were just getting into the strokes of how to be a firefighter… of course, that’s going to hit them differently.”

The city says the decision comes after a “detailed financial review” that occurred in 2022.

It cited high volunteer turnover, declining use of volunteer firefighters in recent years, and significant changes to training and WorkSafe requirements over the past few decades, as some reasons for the change.

Nicholas said volunteer firefighters were often used for wildland fire suppression, as well as to support larger city fire scenes.

“There’s a lot of peripheral work that happens around the outside of the fire scene, and we would be folded into those roles,” he said.

But he says the city has had fewer incidents of large fires as the years go on, leading to less need for the support of volunteers.

More and more calls are for other types of incidents that often do not require volunteer support, like motor vehicle accidents or medical distress calls.

The city says the disbandment will not affect the municipal fire response, and additional support is available for urgent calls through the Greater Vancouver Regional District fire departments, including from Coquitlam Fire Rescue.

The 2025 budget also includes two new full-time positions for career firefighters in the city.

The city also said it is meeting with members of the volunteer fire group in January to discuss other volunteer opportunities with the city.