More volunteer firefighters needed across District
This past weekend, members from Alberton, Chapple, Emo and LaVallee Fire and Emergency Services met for a live fire training Session at the Chapple North Training Grounds.
There were a few members in attendance that had just joined the team at the begin- ning of the year and have never faced a fire inside a compartment, so the topic of the day was Fire Behaviour. Importance was placed on different tools and tactics of controlling an interior fire.
Members met at the Training grounds at 6 a.m., ran through a Safety Plan and site tour and then got busy getting their gear dirty. They participated in rotating drills that saw teams of two, with a supervisor, enter the structure, observe the fire grow and were able to see how the fire behaves with different ventilation and nozzle applications, then exiting to let the next group enter.


The “Live Fire” part of the drill was over by noon, and the clean-up began. Every piece of gear that was involved in the hot zone or fire part of the exercise, required a deep clean and inspection before being put back in service.
Volunteers gave up their Saturday to participate in this training, and worked from 6 a.m. Until about 4:30 p.m. to be more prepared for the next emergency.
On another note, the Fire Teams are looking for more members to join the Teams.
Everyone in the District is looking for help, and the local Fire Services are no different. We need people. And we need them before the next large fire call-out, to make sure they’re trained, which is something we provide for them. Many of our members have joined the Fire Services because they or some- one they knew was affected by fire, or had a close call and only then did they realize that the local Fire Department is important and in need of members. If people joined before their neighbours had a fire, then we could give them the skills and the training that would make them more safe. But ultimately, give them a chance to be more effective on the scene of a fire, instead of just a spectator.