I’d been promised flames and smoke at Fire Ops 101 in Vancouver Monday, and I was ready for them – or so I thought.
When it actually came time to stuff my face into a self-contained breathing apparatus, grab a hose with Burnaby city Coun. Joe Keithley and approach a charred minivan with flames shooting out of it, I wasn’t sure how long I could keep gasping into my mask like a beached fish before I passed out.
Apparently that impulse to pull off the mask is not uncommon, and it’s amazing to think real firefighters pull heavy hoses up flights of smoky stairs and carry people out of burning buildings with them on – especially when they know there’s only so much air in each tank.
Keithley agreed.
“That’s unbelievable, the physical challenge of that,” he said.
But then that’s exactly the point of Fire Ops, to get a taste of what it’s like to be a real firefighter.
Once every two years, the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Association invites mayors, city councillors and other municipal “high-level decision makers” to the Vancouver Fire & Rescue Training Centre.
This year’s Burnaby firefighters-for-a-day were Keithley and I, the NOW’s fire and cops reporter.
With help from real firefighters, we were outfitted with a full firefighter suit (turnout gear, in firefighter parlance) and put through 10 different firefighting scenarios, from battling flames to crawling through small spaces.
“Participants will appreciate what fire fighters on the front lines are going through, and this experience helps them understand the challenges faced to keep our communities safe,” B.C. union president Gord Ditchburn said.
Fireground survival
For me, step one of that appreciation wasn’t so much about flames and life-saving as it was about straps and clasps and buckles and Velcro.
Firefighters are expected to get into their turnout gear in 30 seconds, I was told.
I managed it in about 15 minutes – and only because I got help from multiple firefighters who looked like a team of dads helping a toddler get dressed.
Our Burnaby crew was led by our “wrangler” Burnaby fire Captain Kris Anderson, with help from Local 323 vice-president Scott Alleyn and secretary Miles Ritchie.
One of the activities Anderson is most passionate about is fireground survival training, activities that teach firefighters how to survive life-threatening situations, like getting lost, disoriented, injured, low on air or trapped in a burning building.
In full gear, with tanks on our backs and anxiety-inducing SCBA masks over our faces, Anderson taught us how to maneuver through small spaces and a tangle of wires.
Each exercise simulates an actual situation that cost a real firefighter’s life, Anderson said.
He trains firefighters from around the province to train members of their own fire departments in the survival techniques.
Decision makers
Fire Ops is designed to correspond with the convention of the Union of B.C. Municipalities in Vancouver, so the people responsible for community safety in cities all over the province can get a chance to see what’s at stake when it comes to fire-department budgets.
Throughout the day, Keithley was plied with information about the importance of everything from staffing levels to big-ticket firefighting equipment, like ladder trucks.
He called Fire Ops a “real good grounding in reality about how tough firefighting is” but said the organizers were preaching to the converted as far as he is concerned.
“I think people’s safety is paramount to start with,” he said, “so I’m all for getting the firefighters the equipment they need and the staffing they need to get the job done.”
