Georgetown, P.E.I., Fire Department hopes it will benefit from U.S. Facebook video
Krystalle Ramlakhan | CBC News | Posted: April 6, 2016 4:43 PM | Last Updated: April 6, 2016
Video created to encourage donations for U.S. department, but some are mistaking it for P.E.I.
People are mistaking a Facebook video created to encourage donations by the Georgetown volunteer fire department in Redding, Conn., as a video for the Georgetown, P.E.I., fire department — and the local department is hoping to see some benefits from the mix-up.
The video was posted on Facebook earlier this week and shows a firefighter interviewing people. He asks how much they think each piece of fire equipment costs, starting with boots and helmet and ending with the fire truck. It then shows the actual cost.
Georgetown, P.E.I., Fire Chief Mark Gotell said many people on the Island have been sharing the Facebook video as well, thinking it is his department.
"I'm sure there is a lot of people that viewed it that figured it was Georgetown, Prince Edward Island. But it's not. Any time there's support out there, whether it be through donations or supporting fire departments that are doing fundraising efforts, yep, no we'll definitely accept anything," he said.
The chief of the Georgetown, Conn., fire department, Mike Heibeck, said the idea was to make people aware of the expensive cost of equipment and hopefully generate some donations.
"It's kind of a universal problem I think," he said. "Fire departments, especially volunteer departments are, it's hard to get all the things that you really need on a budget nowadays."
As of Wednesday, the video had 1.3 million views on Facebook.
Heibeck said he doesn't mind if other departments benefit. He also notes it's not the first time there has been confusion between the two departments. He said he once got an application from someone on P.E.I.
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