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Firefighting fulfills desire to give back

Shuswap fire departments welcoming new recruits
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File photo Firefighter Kyle Simcoe shows Parkview Elementary students how to use thermal imager.

A late night call, a rush of adrenaline, the knowledge that whatever comes next, you’ll be with a team of well-trained individuals with the best interests of you and the community at heart.

Shuswap firefighters Peterson Bailey and Kyle Simcoe have been there. They’ve felt that rush and, though still early in their firefighting careers, share a confidence in their abilities and those of their fellow firefighters.

Both are paid on-call firefighters with the Sicamous Fire Department, Bailey since April 2016 and Simcoe since June of this year.

Bailey started with the department as a way of fulfilling his Grade 11 volunteer credit requirements. But the job appealed to him, and he decided to stick with it. Bailey, 19, has since risen from the fire department’s junior ranks and, last weekend, he successfully completed his exterior firefighter training. Getting to this point has been a gradual learning process, supported by a caring team of firefighting professionals.

“Some people might be intimidated by seeing a big house on fire… they might have the preconceived idea that we get there and we just rush into a burning building and start fighting a fire, like what is portrayed in movies and that sort of stuff,” said Bailey. “But actually, it’s a very co-ordinated team of people, and there’s your fire chief there who is directing and giving instructions and then we have the officers there.”

“For us, the rookies, people who have been there less than a year or who don’t have the qualifications to do the more experienced stuff, we’re delegate to do more minor things. It’s not like we take you and dump you in straight to the meat of it… It’s a very gentle learning where you get gradually introduced into it.”

Simcoe, 20, joined the fire department to gain experience that will help him in pursuing a career in emergency services, with with BC Ambulance or the RCMP. Like Bailey, he also enjoys giving back to the community, a desire firefighting fulfills in a number of ways.

“I like that aspect of it,” said Simcoe. “Recently we went to the high school and handed out candy for halloween and that was a lot of fun. I like giving back in that kind of regard, so not only is it helping me for my future, I also get to give back a little bit too.”

While Bailey and Simcoe may not have been directly involved in fighting large structure fires, their roles with the department are still invaluable. As Sicamous Fire Chief Brett Ogino notes, firefighting isn’t always about fighting fires.

“People always think, I don’t want to be a firefighter, I don’t want to drag a hose into a burning building – That’s just not my make-up and how I work,” explained Ogino. “The thing is, it’s not only firefighting anymore. There’s other positions that people can fill. It’s anywhere from being that person who is dragging a hose into a burning building, doing a rescue, the dangerous stuff, but there’s also things like we have drivers that operate the engines, support people who are getting our crews rehabilitated, checked over medically and back out onto the fire line again.”

Ogino said the fire department is even looking at childcare positions, where individuals would care for the children of other firefighters who are taking part in a call.

“Those are positions that are kind of non-traditional. People think, well, this is all I can do, I can only be a firefighter. That’s not necessarily the case,” said Ogino.

The Sicamous and Salmon Arm fire departments are currently seeking new recruits.

While firefighter training is plentiful and ongoing, Simcoe and Bailey assure it’s nothing to be intimidated by. Both strongly recommend anyone even remotely interested in the world of firefighting come to a practice an see what it’s like.

“It’s tough just to walk into something like that because you don’t really know what you’re doing. Unless you do come, you never really know I guess,” said Simcoe. “They’re all very understanding when you don’t know something. You can’t be afraid to come in. But once you’re in, good luck getting out.”

Anyone interested in firefighting in Sicamous may contact Ogino via email at firechief@sicamous.ca, or by phone at 250-836-3728. In Salmon Arm, call 250-803-4060.