By Alex Coop
acoop@estevanmercury.ca
The Estevan fire department is on a hot streak.
Capt. Kyle Luc was elected to the national board of directors for the Canadian Volunteer Fire Services Association in March, while his partner Capt. Charles Olsen, was appointed to the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation as a Saskatchewan director.
Alongside the two captains, Deputy Fire Chief Dale Freser, who has been with the Estevan Fire Rescue Service for approximately 10 years, was appointed by his provincial peers to the Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs as a zone Director for Division 3. Freser said to his recollection, this is the first time Canada has had two people from one fire service sitting on two separate national boards.
"There's a lot of dedication required for these positions," he said, while noting these aren't paid positions during an open forum at the Estevan fire hall on June 25. "It speaks a great deal about the level of commitment our firefighters are putting into the fire service."
Feser added he has the utmost confidence in his fellow firefighters to fulfill their new roles, and boasted about their skills and personalities, which he said were large contributing factors to why they were appointed to national boards in the first place.
"Our fire department is a leader in the southeast corner of the province, and a leader in the province as well. Why not expand that leadership across Canada," the deputy fire chief stated, and noted that about 80 per cent of the firefighters in Estevan are trained to an NFPA 1001 standard, which is a high level of professional certification.
When asked about their reasons for accepting such demanding roles, all three of them shared the same sentiment: Make improvements wherever possible, and help Estevan spearhead new developments within the fire fighting community.
"We want to put Estevan on the map. I also want to better myself, improve our fire department, and help improve every other fire department in general," said Luc.
Olsen emphasized the brotherhood members of their fire department share, and said the CFFF is an organization that he feels is very important because of how it assists families who've lost love ones who worked as a firefighter.
"I have a family, and the CFFF helps families of the fallen firefighters with bursaries and scholarships. The guys in the fire department, they are like brothers, and if one of them was to go down, I'd do whatever I could to help that family."
Everyone should be entitled to adequate training, said Luc, and any chance they have to improve the fire department in Estevan, or in other cities across the province, is one that should be taken, he concluded.
Feser agreed with Luc's statement. "Whether it's a volunteer, a paid-on-call, or career fire service, we try to approach any issue in the same manner, because no matter where you are in the province or country, it's the same fire or motor-vehicle collision you're facing, and these individuals are expected to do the exact same job."
Some of the recent issues fire department are facing include the lack of experience with the new types of structural steel vehicles are made from, which make it difficult for firefighters to cut through. Homes that make an effort to conserve energy are also producing difficult situations for firefighters, as some of these homes now allow combustible material to ignite much quicker in their living room when compared to traditional living rooms.
"We're always evolving as a fire service," said Feser, adding a plan-B and plan-C are always being formulated to prepare for these situations. "We want to make sure we're bringing our A-game to every call."
