The mayor of Campbellton says regionalization will help to address some of the serious problems facing rural communities like hers in trying to recruit essential services.

Maisie Clark says the town has a mutual aid agreement with the town of Lewisporte for firefighting services, which proved beneficial on the weekend as the result of a sequence of serious and shocking events in the town.

The Campbellton Fire Department requested the assistance of Lewisporte after being called out to an unfolding scene involving a vehicle crash, home invasion, car fire, house fire and sudden death in the early morning hours of Saturday morning.

Campbellton’s three volunteer firefighters cannot do an interior attack and requested the assistance of neighbouring Lewisporte when it became clear that the house was also on fire.

Campbellton Fire Chief Gary Mills says they need more volunteers. He offered his thanks to Lewisporte for their assistance.

Mayor Clark says they have residents who would make excellent volunteers but she laments the days of volunteering are over. She says regionalization is one solution to meeting those gaps.

She says a regional approach to fire services would help smaller communities struggling to meet the need, especially when the unexpected happens.

The RCMP’s investigation into the string of weekend events continues.