Six young men are living out their dreams as recruits with New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services.
After a lengthy recruitment process, the group of six started its training program in New Westminster on March 31. Instead of training on how to put out fires and get people out of vehicles involved in accidents, their early training focuses on public education, fire prevention, inspections and fire education.
“It’s a different way to start their careers off,” said Capt. Dan Wilson, captain of fire prevention. “I think that’s a good thing.”
Wilson said firefighters have traditionally acquired inspection, education and prevention skills and learned about the city over the course of their careers, but new recruits are learning about those things from the get go.
“This is the second group we have done this way,” he said. “I think we are going to see good results.”
Sean Lowden, one of the recruits, said the training program has helped the newcomers expand their knowledge of New Westminster.
“It’s a really good background,” he said. “It’s been really beneficial with our getting to know the city.”
In their early weeks on the of training, the recruits have been touring places such as Anvil Centre, the Kruger plant, schools, Massey Theatre, Canada Games Pool and Queen’s Park Arena.
Stephen Downey, another recruit, believes the training will be invaluable in the years to come and will help the newest firefighters be better prepared on the job.
“I was pretty stoked,” he said about being hired. “I am really, really excited. It was thrilling to get that phone call.”
That’s a sentiment shared by all of the recruits, most who have taken courses at the Justice Institute of B.C. and done on-call work with other fire departments. Downey has a fine arts degree from the University of Victoria, while most of the other recruits have backgrounds in a variety of trades.
Lowden previously worked as a heavy-duty mechanic and a first aid instructor with St. John Ambulance, but always had a goal of being a firefighter.
“My father was firefighter in Vancouver. He retired after 31 years,” he said. “I was a sponge. He is probably the only person who could be as happy as I was. My mother too.”
A native of London, England, Alasdair Dunbar said he’s thrilled to become a firefighter with New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services.
“It’s the best,” he said. “It’s a small department. You get an opportunity to know the people you work with.”
While they’re enjoying the training program with the local department, the recruits know they’ll be learning for many years to come.
“We have a lot to learn,” Dunbar said. “There are some really great guys in the department – there’s a lot of knowledge to draw on.”
Meeting the other firefighters has been a positive experience for the newcomers.
“Everyone was so open and welcoming,” Lowden said. “No one had a chip on their shoulder.”
New Westminster Fire Chief Tim Armstrong said the recruits’ enthusiasm is contagious.
“There is an enthusiasm when there is somebody new and you can share your skills with. I see with the prevention staff, they are excited to work with them. The training officer is excited to work with them,” he said. “They are like sponges right now. You can feed them pretty much anything – they take it in with a big smile on their face. It’s infectious.”
Armstrong said the firefighters’ union has bought in to the new training program, something he thinks will serve the city well in the years ahead.
“Most people come on to the fire department and they don’t really get to see the city. We spend the first week orientating them with the city. We take them around, we show them around,” he said. “We introduce them to all areas of the city so they have a good orientation of what’s in the city, and what could potentially be responded to in our careers. That’s we did with the last group and it worked really well.”
In the past it has taken years before firefighters work in the fire prevention division – if ever.
“I really believe prevention is becoming more and more of an important role for the fire service,” Armstrong said. “If we can prevent the fires from happening, it’s never going to eliminate it altogether, but if you can mitigate the risk ahead of time you can … reduce the potential for loss and loss of life.”
While the new recruits begin their careers in New Westminster doing prevention and education work, they’ll soon move into suppression training and put out fires.
Firefighter Kathy Ius, who works in community outreach and emergency preparedness, said the separation between the suppression and prevention divisions is changing as time goes on.
“The integration of these things is blended,” she said. “The business of firefighting and the business of fire inspection, with the way things are working, the components of building, the need to familiarize, that is where the blending comes in.”
Before coming to New Westminster, the recruits have some experience in firefighting through their previous volunteer and educational experiences.
“They already have exposure to firefighting,” Armstrong said, “it’s just not specific to the department.”
New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services recruits firefighters in conjunction with the City of New Westminster’s human resources department.
“It’s about a six-month process to go through the hiring. We look at all their credentials, we do a written test. We have an outside training company that comes in and does the written test. They do a ride along program where they come in and spend a couple of days, just doing basic skills. The training officer and the crews assess, try to get a reading on how they fit in as far as hustle and willingness to jump in and work as part of a team environment. We take those assessments and we pare that down to who we are going to interview.”
Interviews are the next step in the lengthy recruitment process, with those interviews narrowing the field to the successful applicants.
“It is very competitive,” Armstrong said. “The other thing we are finding to is we are also competing with other municipalities because the demographics right now seem to be there are a lot of retirements. We had quite a few retirements. After the war, a lot of guys were hired. They started retiring in the late 70s and early 80s. There was a big hiring in the late 70s early and early 80s – now that group is starting to come up to retirement. So we are seeing a lot more turnover. That’s something that’s common around the Lower Mainland and throughout the province.”
For every retirement, there are numerous folks willing to fill those boots at the fire hall. “It’s been amazing,” said recruit Mike MacLean. “It’s been a dream come true. I enjoy going to work every day. Guys are always saying, it’s the best job in the world.”
