TISDALE — A firefighter from Northern Alberta came to Tisdale with a cabinet full of fire department challenge coins as a way to show support in the aftermath of the Humboldt Broncos crash.
Harold Bulford came from a fire station in Bezanson, Alta, located 30 minutes east of Grande Prairie. His station wanted to do something, so they contacted nearby fire departments asking for challenge coins. In the end, 34 departments gave coins and three gave shoulder patches.
“That’s what we were hoping: to get a whole bunch of coins, bring them down and show the brotherhood at the fire department that they’re not alone,” the fire captain said said.
Bulford travelled to Humboldt, Tisdale, Nipawin and Zenon Park to present each fire department with a cabinet.
“This whole trip’s pretty emotional because being an emergency responder, I can’t imagine what they were going through at the scene or what they’re going through now, dealing with the impact of that,” he said. “We just felt we wanted to do something for them, show them that there’s a lot of other people rooting for them and helping them through this.”
Bulford said he particularly wanted to visit the three northern fire departments as they responded to the crash.
“I wanted to get to these three departments that actually responded because I know it’s probably impacting them still.”
Brian Minhinnick, Tisdale’s fire chief, said all of the firefighters really appreciated the gesture made by Bulford and of the Grande Prairie Country Fire Department.
“It’s very humbling knowing that that brotherhood of the firefighters is out there and that they’re supporting us,” he said. “It feels good.”
The brotherhood of firefighters is the strongest one Bulford could imagine
“I can go anywhere in the world, stop at the fire hall and tell them you’re a firefighter or a volunteer and they’ll welcome you, show you around and look after you,” he said. “It’s worldwide. It’s pretty impressive.”
Minhinnick said the cabinet will be hung up on the wall of the Tisdale fire hall. The chief added he wanted to thank the community for all of the support they’ve shown us, whether it’s been a pat on the back, a handshake or even a kind word.
