The City of Swift Current City Council passed a motion yesterday that will allow the fire department to charge for extra services.

While the majority of services are covered by taxes, some things can now become a source of revenue, says Fire Department Chief Denis Pilon.

"Under provincial legislation, we can't charge a lot of fees for what we do," he said. "However there are things that we do for individuals like filling air bottles and fixing hoses for other fire departments, things like that we can now bill for, so we do."

The Fire Department will also be able to charge a fee for filling scuba diving air tanks, something Pilon says is in demand.

"We do get scuba divers around here, believe it or not," he said. " A lot of them train around here and do a bit of diving in the summer, but they bring their scuba tanks so they can go diving south of here. The RCMP also has a dive team, for body recovery and things like that, so we can support them in that way."

He adds that most scuba divers will take their tanks to Saskatoon and Regina, as the service hasn't been available in the southwest before now. Also included in the list is fire inspection services and instruction services.