What do you do with a group of teenagers and a week long break from school? Send them to firefighter Boot Camp. This was the vision of Deputy Chief Mike Dine of the Pender Island Fire Department. After viewing a similar program hosted by the Comox Fire Department, Deputy Chief Dine thought why couldn’t that be done here.
With only one high school serving all of the Gulf Islands, an eager group of Pender Island firefighters contacted their neighbours at the Saltspring Island Fire Department to see if they could share the load. Training Officer Jamie Holmes full supported the plan and together, the two departments approached the high school to discuss an outline of the plan. With endorsement of the local school, it was decided that the focus of the camp should:
- Provide excitement
- Conquer challenges
- Teach team goals and participation as well as individual skills
- Focus on success, building on life skills
- Overcome fears
- Teach basic firefighting skills
- Encourage youth to volunteer in their community, and hopefully look at joining their local volunteer fire department.
With everyone on board, the first camp was held in 2005 with 14 kids in attendance. The camp was a huge success and another was planned for the next year. However, this was not as easy as first thought. The second year, not enough participants signed up to make the program viable. With a minimum age requirement of 16 to attend, the number of students eligible to attend was limited.
To keep the camp viable, Deputy Chief Dine decided that he would need to include other fire departments and schools. Langford Fire Department was contacted next and they provided five youth from their existing cadet program. With a total of 14 now enrolled, anther successful camp was held. 2007 proved to be another difficult year in recruiting again as only a few signed up for the program and the boot camp was cancelled with plans to try again in 2008. With that in mind, Deputy Chief Dine contacted the Sooke and Otter Point Fire Departments to see if there departments and the high school would be interested in participating. Deputy Chief Jarvis Seabrook of the Otter Point Fire Department offered the use of their recently completed live fire training facility. This seemed like a perfect fit and the 2008 camp moved into the planning stages.
THE 2008 CAMP:
Firefighters and youth from 3 high schools along with firefighters from 6 departments participated. This included Pender Island, Saltspring, Langford, Metchosin, Otter Point and Sooke. A total of 15 students, aged 16 - 18 signed up and the camp was held for one week during spring break. The 15 students were divided into three platoons and were to live, eat and sleep in the Sooke Fire Station for the week, with the majority of the training held at the Otter Point Fire Department training center, (it is only 5km from the Sooke Station). The day began at 7:00 am with a short exercise program, followed by breakfast and a clean up of the sleeping area. Cadets were then transported to the training center where they received instruction in a variety of firefighting operations including:
- Safety and Orientation
- SCBA and Personal Protective Gear
- Hose Handling
- Ladders
- Water Supply
- Live Fire Training
- Search and Rescue
- Rope Rescue
- First Aid and Patient Handling
- Incident Command
- Aerial Ladder Training
- Safety around Helicopters (Several helicopters were donated for this exercise)
- A Firefighter Fitness Challenge
At 6:00 pm, cadets were provided a dinner break and then back to training for an additional hour or two each night. Each platoon was assigned chores for the day such as washing the floor or doing dishes that had to be completed after the training session. Then it was free time for the cadets until lights out at 11:00 pm.
On the last night, students were surprised to be awakened to the fire alarm, alerting them to a fire that they would be attending. Running for their turnout gear, the kids quickly donned their gear and headed out on fire trucks to the Otter Point Training Centre where a fully involved structure fire was in progress. Using all of their recently learned skills, the cadets had to work together to extinguish the fire. Upon returning to the station after their first call, equipment had to be cleaned and returned to service. The very excited new firefighters found it difficult to get back to sleep as they kept talking about the event.
Each of the cadets also received clothing including sweat pants and shirts, ball caps, and t-shirts that were theirs to keep. Each participating department provided turnout gear and enough SCBA for each student from their area. The cost, approximately $1000.00 for each student was garnered from fundraising within the fire departments, donations from corporate sponsors, funding from school boards and a $100.00 fee charged to each student. The final day of the program, the parents were invited to attend to watch these new firefighters in action. A variety of firefighting challenges were performed with the finale being a team firefighter combat challenge event between platoons.
After lunch, a graduation ceremony was held with each student receiving a certificate. A full length, professionally edited DVD of the week will also be provided to each participant upon its completion. The Deputy Fire Commissioner, Dave Ferguson from the BC Office of the Fire Commissioner spoke at the ceremony, praising the accomplishments of the youth and the instructors. He also offered his services to try and secure provincial funding to help continue this very valuable program.
The highlights for the youth involved can be seen in the following quotes:
A great learning experience
The rappelling was sweet
I made some good friends
The live fire response was exciting
The instructors were also very pleased in the way the cadets performed and had nothing but praise for all those involved.
For further information or a copy of the curriculum used contact
Mike Dine, Deputy Chief
Pender Island Fire Rescue
P.O. Box 61, 4423 Bedwell Harbour Road, Pender Island, BC V0N 2M1
Telephone: 250-629-3321 - Fax: 250-629-6194
Email: deputychief@penderfire.ca -- Website: www.penderfire.ca |
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