The training that is offered to rural firefighters has become much more than how to effectively and safely put out fires
Extracting an injured person from an electric vehicle, rather than the more ubiquitous gas-powered cars and trucks, can pose challenges for fire departments.
Now, the Saskatchewan crown corporation insurer, SGI, has announced $5.6 million in funding, part of which will be used to help train volunteer departments on electric vehicles.
SGI is touting the funding as a “first of its kind in Canada” training program that will fund volunteer firefighters to meet minimum standards for vehicle extraction and the tools necessary for that type of emergency response.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Doug Lapchuk, Saskatchewan Volunteer Firefighters Association president, said the funding is welcome, especially following two years of training that was largely suspended due to COVID health restrictions.
“We are starting back into it,” said Lapchuk, highlighting an upcoming training session in Carlyle, Sask. “We’re probably going to have 160 to 180 students taking a variety of courses and the focus on training is far more than it was before.”
For rural fire departments, training has become much more than putting out fires. Today, it includes a wide variety of hazard mitigation.
“For some of these departments that don’t have the ability to purchase their own extraction equipment or the ability to attend the training, the training can actually be brought to them,” said Lapchuk.
Fire equipment can be expensive, but Lapchuk said volunteers in Saskatchewan make the best of what’s available.
“We’ve been doing so much for so long with so little that we’re now just about qualified to do anything with nothing,” said Lapchuk. “And that’s volunteer fire service. We identify, adapt and overcome.”
There has been a growing recognition of the role volunteers play in rural emergency response in the past few years by provincial and federal governments, namely with mental health supports, he said.
That includes providing a peer-to-peer support for firefighters through the Saskatchewan Volunteer Firefighters Association as well as a 24-hour phone line which Lapchuk said the organization will be seeking support for through a federally funded program.
“The mental health side is starting to get addressed in a very positive fashion and I think it’s just going to continue to grow and get better from there,” he said.
But while the need for volunteer firefighters isn’t diminishing, the pool of people those rural services require is, as smaller counties and towns continue to see their populations fall.
However, Lapchuk said more women continue to join departments, and training for teens is available while the upper range of volunteers can include seniors.
“The issue of gender never really enters into fire service. If you can do the job, you’re a firefighter,” said Lapchuk, who is also chief of the department in Balgonie, Sask.
As far as age, Lapchuk said he started at 16 while the chief of his department was 70 before he retired from the service after more than 40 years.
“Volunteer fire service is one of the best ways to return to your community. You provide protection and support for your community members and it is a completely rewarding, though, at times totally daunting line of volunteering,” he said.
