The Responder Responderthe ALBERTA FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION
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ResponderTHE ALBERTA FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION Spring/Summer 2014 Commitment, Caring, Remembering Fire Services Fuelled by Passion Wines Inspired by Flames Spring/Summer 2014 | 1 2 | The Responder ResponderTHE ALBERTA FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION The Responder is the official publication of the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association. The magazine is published twice a year. The publication is distributed free of charge to CONTENTS emergency services personnel throughout Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. In addition, The Responder is distributed to urban 5 From the Publisher and rural municipalities, Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and other organizations with 6 Good News for Alberta’s Municipalities an interest in fire and related emergency services. and Fire Departments Publication Mail Agreement: 40065432 7 Proper Training—How Important Is It? Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 11 Commitment, Caring, Remembering Rose Country Advertising & Public Relations 11904 -113 Avenue 16 Fire Services Fuelled by Passion Edmonton, Alberta Canada T5G 3C2 22 Wines Inspired by Flames Phone: 1.800.661.4278 28 Winning Entry Results in New Fax: 780.452.2890 Rescue Truck Email: [email protected] 32 Shipping Oil by Rail—Threat to Publisher/Editor Communities and First Responders Brian Stecyk [email protected] Advertising Sales Kelley Johnston [email protected] Creative Director Margaret Horton [email protected] Copyright 2014, RC and AFCA. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means in whole or in part without the expressed written consent of the Cover Photo: Captain Gorrie, Edmonton Garrison Fire Chief, is proud publisher or the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association. of his long career as a fire fighter in the Canadian military. Spring/Summer 2014 | 3 We also received significant support from AUMA and AAMD&C. Many of our members are struggling with recruitment. We have developed many tools to help but we have difficulty knowing how many fire departments are taking advantage of them. Some that have used them report remarkable success. If you have a story about how you have succeeded at recruitment, please share it. The easiest Dear Friends, way to do that is to call our magazine editor and tell him. You don’t have to do anything other than call. The editor Welcome to the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association will have the article written and it will be printed in an Conference and Trade Show in Grande Prairie. upcoming issue. We are looking forward to an exciting event with great discussion and friendship. On behalf of our membership During and following our conference, please explore the I extend heartfelt thanks to Chief Dan Lemieux and Chief Peace River portion of Alberta It is a big area and certainly Everett Cooke, conference chairs, Allan Schram, Rodney one of the most impressive parts of our province. While Schmidt, and conference coordinator, Kelly Legris for the you are at it say congratulations to the City of Grande work they have done to make this conference a success. Prairie on their 100th Anniversary. We have seen significant gains over the past months Bill Purdy particularly with the new arrangement with the provincial Executive Director, AFCA government regarding payment for response on provincial Deputy Chief highways. The changes resulted from a cooperative effort Wabamun Fire Department ofD3958_TransCare_hlfpg_Layout our executive working with 1 11/14/13 Alberta 11:22 Transportation. AM Page 1 Maximum Power in Half the Size! • Operate Two Tools with MAX POWER or Operate One Tool with an Additional BOOST. • Increased First Stage Pressure Reduces Cycle Times. • Extremely Portable and Lightweight. Modular Design Reduces Service Time. Trans-Care Rescue Ltd. 219 Main Street East, Langham SK S0K 2L0 Toll Free: 1-800-71RESCU email: [email protected] www.trans-carerescue.com 2700 Wisconsin Ave. | Downers Grove, IL USA 60515 1-800-592-6587 www.amkus.com Rescue System Supplier of 4 | The Responder From the Publisher It is great to testament to their commitment to their community. I be in the City encourage you to visit their winery and see what came of Grande out of the ashes of the Okanagan Park Fire of 2003. Prairie for the AFCA I apologize for not recognizing Fire Chief Jerrold Lemko convention. of the Vegreville Fire Department as Canada’s Volunteer I am sure the Fire Chief of the Year. I received the information about delegates Chief Lemko after the last edition had been printed. will be I will include a story about Chief Lemko and his fire overwhelmed department in an upcoming issue. by the vibrancy and economic As always, please let me know of any stories your feel activity they see. should be shared among your colleagues. We can write about them—we just have to know what they are. In producing this and the previous issue of The Brian Stecyk Responder, I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Publisher/Editor many exceptional first responders. Every one of them, regardless of their position or age was dedicated to their profession. One of the other pleasures I had with this issue is the opportunity to spend time on Canadian Forces Base Edmonton to meet the fire fighting team. They are unique because they have to be prepared to not only respond to the traditional situations all fire fighters confront—they have to respond in combat situations. As they told me they are soldiers first and fire fighters second although when the call comes in they immediately become first responders. They have extended an invitation to any fire fighter to stop by for a visit. I would recommend taking them up on it. I also enjoyed talking to Leo Gebert of St. Hubertus Winery. Although we only talked on the telephone, I look forward to visiting the vineyard next time I am in Kelowna. Their effort to recognize fire fighters is a Spring/Summer 2014 | 5 Good News for Alberta’s Municipalities and Fire Departments By Brian Stecyk AFCA Executive Director Bill Purdy, Minister of Transportation and Minister of Infrastructure Wayne Drysdale, and AFCA Vice-president Al Schram are happy after the announcement of increased funding for responses to emergency situations on Alberta’s highways. highways. “The announcement of increased funding for Minister Drysdale announced that fees for large emergency response by fire departments responding to equipment (pumper trucks and rescue vans) would be emergency situations on provincial highways is good increased from $400 to $600 per hour and that fees news for every municipality and fire department in would now be adjusted annually to reflect increasing Alberta,” says Al Schram, Edson Fire Chief and Vice- costs of operation. Other fees would also be adjusted. president of the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA). “Perhaps equally important is a change to make the Vice-president Schram was commenting on the payment process easier and uniform throughout the announcement made by Transportation Minister Wayne province,” says Bill Purdy, AFCA Executive Director. “We Drysdale at the spring meeting of the Alberta Association achieved these changes by working cooperatively with of Municipal Districts and Counties. Alberta Transportation who were quick to recognize the problem and were receptive to bringing about a change. Fire departments are often the first responders at motor We thank them for their efforts.” vehicle accidents on primary and secondary highways. Costs are recovered through claims on driver’s insurance Purdy added: “Both the AAMD&C and AUMA strongly but often that is unsuccessful and the bill is sent to supported the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association and will Alberta Transportation. “It has been about 15 years also be happy to see a positive result for this issue.” since fees were adjusted and they were just not covering actual costs. Municipalities and their taxpayers were picking up the shortfall,” adds Schram. 6 | The Responder Proper Training— How Important Is It? By Mike Bailey Emt-P, Assistant Fire Chief Owner Fire Training Solutions Door entry—proper training is the most critical component of fire fighting. As most of us know, more than half of all 911 calls instruction on fire behavior, hose placement and methods responded to by the fire service involve a medical of fire attack that they’ll ever need. The fact is they’ve emergency; less than 10 percent involve actual fire. Over acquired only the basics. the last 10 years the numbers of fires and fire deaths have also gradually declined, thanks to the great work in fire In pursuit of attaining Fire Fighter I status, recruits must prevention. demonstrate their ability to extinguish a fire involving stacked or piled Class A materials that can be fought These statistics have had a real, lasting impact on today’s from the exterior of the structure. Not until advancing fire service. Rigorous EMT/paramedic training has become to Fire Fighter II status does the recruit coordinate an a mainstay, but fewer fires means many fire fighters don’t interior fire attack with all the necessary tools and personal receive the same level of training on actual fire fighting. protective equipment (PPE). For the very first time, they Although the decrease in fires and fire deaths is a true evaluate fire growth and development, conduct a primary testament to the progress we’ve made, we still need hands- search and communicate changing conditions to the on training to learn proper fire fighting techniques and to incident commander (IC). All of these lessons and drills are keep ourselves as safe as possible on scene. conducted in the very beginning of their career. So what happens after that? When was the last time you did live fire Some departments believe that when a recruit graduates training? from an accredited fire program, and they’ve met all the objectives of NFPA 1001: Standard for Fire Fighter The same high standard of continuing education that we Professional Qualifications, they’ve received all the place on EMS training should be carried over to our fire Spring/Summer 2014 | 7 training to ensure fire fighters can perform effectively and safely on the fireground.