Though the team was making its first appearance at a national event, Josh Roulette had a good feeling that the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation Firefighters would capture a Canadian championship.
Roulette is the fire chief of the six-man firefighting team that won the over-all title at the 36th annual National Firefighting Competition held Oct. 25 in Calgary.
A total of eight teams participated in the event. Other competing squads represented British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut and the Atlantic region.
This marked the fourth year the team from Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation, located in southern Manitoba, has participated in firefighting contests, but in previous years it had some stiff competition within its own province and had not won the Manitoba title before.
That changed this fall when Roulette’s team captured top honours at the provincial championships in Portage la Prairie. It finally managed to defeat a team from Cross Lake First Nation.
“In order to get to the nationals, we had to beat the (defending) nationals champs just to get there,” Roulette said.
And when that happened, Roulette felt his squad was capable of adding a national title to its accomplishments.
“We were pretty confident because Cross Lake has been the number one team in Canada for a few years now,” he said. “So, if we were able to beat them, we knew we were going to have a chance because they have been beating everyone in Canada for a while.”
All teams at the nationals had to make a fire safety presentation between two to five minutes long on lithium-ion batteries and fire safety at home.
“The presentation was one of the big events,” Roulette said. “It was worth 25 per cent of the points. We made a video for our presentation. All six of us spoke.”
Roulette, who has been the fire chief for his First Nation since 2011, took part in the events himself. His teammates were Joey Prince, Noah Mousseau, Mark Martin Jr., Wade Malcolm and Victor Beaulieu Jr.
The nationals also have physical events that were either timed or judged on accuracy. Events included shooting water at targets and hauling equipment such as rolled-up hoses.
Roulette said winning the Canadian title is a huge deal.
“It really gives a boost to the guys,” he said. “And I know we have a lot of support from the community. I think that’s a big thing why we’ve been successful. We have a lot of support from the community and we have a lot of support from our administration. That really counts with the level of service and performance we’re giving.”
Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation has just under 5,000 members living on reserve.
“For a rural fire department, we are very busy,” Roulette said. “We have a high volume of calls and a wide variety of calls.”
In recent years his fire department has averaged a call every two-and-a-half days, Roulette said. Besides fire calls, the department also assists EMS personnel. The department also has a search and rescue team.
As for firefighting competitions it has entered in recent years, Roulette said organizers provide a package to participants beforehand.
“They let the teams know what events they will be doing,” he said. “They let them know these are the events, these are the rules. It gives everyone a heads-up and then everybody has time to prepare before they go.”
Besides winning the over-all title at the Canadian championships, Roulette said his team also placed first in the water pack relay.
“We have to take turns putting a water pack on properly and then going back and forth on the course,” he said. “And then you have to shoot five targets.”
For this event, the course is 50 feet long. And participants shoot at targets placed 10 feet away.
Entrants are judged on the number of targets they hit and are penalized for missed targets.
Roulette said his team members did practice this event beforehand on their First Nation with a simulated course.
“It’s a little bit different than normal training,” he said. “But you definitely use the skill that you use in normal training because you have to put on and don the equipment properly and adjustments have to be made properly.”
Trevor Prince, the chief of the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation, praised the efforts of the Nation’s firefighters saying they have made community members proud.
“Their hard work, determination and teamwork have carried them to the very top, showing that when we stand together as a Nation, we can achieve great things,” Prince said. “This victory belongs not only to the firefighters but to our entire community. They represent the strength, unity, and spirit of Sandy Bay—protecting our people, our homes and our future.”
