In the early twentieth century, emergency medical care was inconsistent and largely unregulated in British Columbia. Before the creation of a provincial system, ambulance services were provided by a patchwork of organizations ranging from funeral homes and private companies to volunteer-run societies. The result was fragmented and often inadequate care, especially in rural and remote areas like Burns Lake.
The Birth of Local Ambulance Service
The origins of ambulance service in the Lakes District date to 1953, when local Rotarian Richard
“Dick” Robinson spearheaded the initiative to bring an ambulance to the area. The Burns Lake Rotary Club, under the leadership of Joe Slesinger and a dedicated committee, purchased a 1951 Ford panel truck from the Aluminum Company of Canada for $600. This vehicle became the community’s first ambulance after volunteers retrofitted it with medical equipment and insulation. Later, to improve the truck’s ride (and patient comfort), they modified its springs.
The Lakes District Ambulance Society was officially formed in January 1954. The society’s service area extended from Perow in the west to almost Endako, with ambulance crews regularly responding to calls as far north as Babine Lake. On January 21, 1954, the ambulance was used for its first call, the details of which have been lost to time. Four years later, volunteer ambulance attendant Art Ager, relief driver Knud Larsen, and Registered Nurse Sheila Larsen transported Mrs. Frank Bueckert of Takysie Lake from the Women’s Missionary Hospital in Burns Lake to the Vanderhoof hospital. The 176-mile round trip was the longest undertaken by a Burns Lake ambulance crew at that time.
Community-Led Operations
Volunteerism was the backbone of the service. Telephone operators would dispatch volunteer drivers, and usage fees were initially set at 25 cents per mile (minimum charge $3.50). Over the years, the society held fundraising auctions, trained volunteers through St. John Ambulance, and continually upgraded services and equipment with local support.
Volunteers were proud of the job they did, though they admitted it wasn’t always easy.
“You’d hear somebody at, maybe, 10 or 11 o’clock [who needed transportation] out to Prince George,” Ager recalled years later. “You’d have to wait for a nurse to get off from the hospital … Maybe one nurse that could go on the whole bunch, and it was a lot of trips.”
By 1959, the service had responded to over 90 calls, driven 1,200 miles, and logged more than 400 volunteer hours. Yet keeping the society afloat had become a challenge. Volunteer burnout had become a problem; only three drivers (Ager, Bill Glanville, and Len Proppe) were still taking calls. Equipment limitations were obvious, and the society’s financial health was questionable. (Some patients refused to pay their ambulance bills.) That same year, the ambulance society asked Burns Lake village council for financial support and discussed the possibility of making ambulance service a municipal responsibility.
Transition to Regional and Provincial Oversight
Through the 1960s, calls for improved ambulance infrastructure grew louder. Editorials in the Lakes District News highlighted the need for newer, more modern vehicles because the local ambulance was regularly transporting patients as far as Prince George. By 1968, the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako formally acknowledged that ambulance service should be a district-wide function. In the years that followed, both the village and the regional district contributed funds for vehicle replacement and shelter. Volunteers often paid for their own training, and local businesses like Silvertip Tire Service donated materials.
A Provincial System
The grassroots system saw its final transformation in 1974, when the British Columbia government established the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS). This marked the beginning of a standardized, province-wide emergency response system, bringing consistent training, modern equipment, and centralized dispatch to communities across BC—including Burns Lake. Today, the BCAS operates out of purpose-built facilities adjacent to the Lakes District Hospital & Health Centre.
The Birth of Local Ambulance Service
The origins of ambulance service in the Lakes District date to 1953, when local Rotarian Richard
“Dick” Robinson spearheaded the initiative to bring an ambulance to the area. The Burns Lake Rotary Club, under the leadership of Joe Slesinger and a dedicated committee, purchased a 1951 Ford panel truck from the Aluminum Company of Canada for $600. This vehicle became the community’s first ambulance after volunteers retrofitted it with medical equipment and insulation. Later, to improve the truck’s ride (and patient comfort), they modified its springs.
The Lakes District Ambulance Society was officially formed in January 1954. The society’s service area extended from Perow in the west to almost Endako, with ambulance crews regularly responding to calls as far north as Babine Lake. On January 21, 1954, the ambulance was used for its first call, the details of which have been lost to time. Four years later, volunteer ambulance attendant Art Ager, relief driver Knud Larsen, and Registered Nurse Sheila Larsen transported Mrs. Frank Bueckert of Takysie Lake from the Women’s Missionary Hospital in Burns Lake to the Vanderhoof hospital. The 176-mile round trip was the longest undertaken by a Burns Lake ambulance crew at that time.
Community-Led Operations
Volunteerism was the backbone of the service. Telephone operators would dispatch volunteer drivers, and usage fees were initially set at 25 cents per mile (minimum charge $3.50). Over the years, the society held fundraising auctions, trained volunteers through St. John Ambulance, and continually upgraded services and equipment with local support.
Volunteers were proud of the job they did, though they admitted it wasn’t always easy.
“You’d hear somebody at, maybe, 10 or 11 o’clock [who needed transportation] out to Prince George,” Ager recalled years later. “You’d have to wait for a nurse to get off from the hospital … Maybe one nurse that could go on the whole bunch, and it was a lot of trips.”
By 1959, the service had responded to over 90 calls, driven 1,200 miles, and logged more than 400 volunteer hours. Yet keeping the society afloat had become a challenge. Volunteer burnout had become a problem; only three drivers (Ager, Bill Glanville, and Len Proppe) were still taking calls. Equipment limitations were obvious, and the society’s financial health was questionable. (Some patients refused to pay their ambulance bills.) That same year, the ambulance society asked Burns Lake village council for financial support and discussed the possibility of making ambulance service a municipal responsibility.
Transition to Regional and Provincial Oversight
Through the 1960s, calls for improved ambulance infrastructure grew louder. Editorials in the Lakes District News highlighted the need for newer, more modern vehicles because the local ambulance was regularly transporting patients as far as Prince George. By 1968, the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako formally acknowledged that ambulance service should be a district-wide function. In the years that followed, both the village and the regional district contributed funds for vehicle replacement and shelter. Volunteers often paid for their own training, and local businesses like Silvertip Tire Service donated materials.
A Provincial System
The grassroots system saw its final transformation in 1974, when the British Columbia government established the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS). This marked the beginning of a standardized, province-wide emergency response system, bringing consistent training, modern equipment, and centralized dispatch to communities across BC—including Burns Lake. Today, the BCAS operates out of purpose-built facilities adjacent to the Lakes District Hospital & Health Centre.
Lakes District Ambulance Society's First Ambulance (1953)
