a 7 a: a Bs i | i LH & i

This is the final instalment ina

| four-part series of feature

articles about the Terrace Fire Department. Last week reporter Tod Strachan described on-the-

job experiences with local fire-.

fighters. This week he examines

___ the support they need from the _ public and from taxpayers to do _ their job the way it needs to be

done.

Even with the stress of the job there are parts of the firefighting profession that are rewarding and positive, The well-used Fire Safety House, for example. Built

by volunteers with money and

merchandise donated mostly by the local community, the Fire Safety House demonstrates very clearly to children and adults

‘what to expect in the event of a

fire and how to get out alive.

But even with the lighter moments and the rewards of saving lives, the life of a fire- fighter is no bed of roses. There is a lot of responsibility, stress and hard work involved, and precise use of training and equipment. There is absolutely no room for error.

And this brings us back to where we began, the need for the right kirid of training and equipment. Automobile Extrica- tion 1991, a regional intensive training session held at North- west Community College recent- ly, was a milestone and the beginning, perhaps, of much more to come.

Terrace fire chief Bob Beckett says he will be working in con- junction with NWCC and the

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Justice Institute to develop a

three-year curriculum he hopes.

will begin | next spring. Terrace Fire Department train- ing officer Rick Owens applauds

the idea, hoping it will ore day — lead to a full scale regional

training centre in Terrace. ,

Says Owens: "I think Terrace as a regional training centre has a lot to offer... With the college and with the dormitories, cafe-

teria. A lot * OF the! smaller: de-

partments catifiot afford to travel

‘down south and put their people

in motels, whereas we re looking

at possibly using the campus

dorms and cafeteria as an easier way." There are budgetary consider-

ations, of course, but Beckett

demonstrated with Automobile Extrication 1991 that there is a way to keep costs down.

The total cost for the week- long program was close to

$8,000. That’s a big chunk out of the fire department’s budget and a limiting factor to the amount of training that might happen here. It is cheaper than the only existing alternative, however, sending Terrace fire- fighters to train at the Justice Institute Fire Academy in Vancouver.

But a number of professionals from outside our community

were attracted to the program,.

and as a result the cost was

reduced to only $385 per stu-

dent. The Terrace Fire Depart- ment had to pay only a little over $2,000 of the total cost. —

And the economy of that $2,000 will be stretched even

Terrace Review —— Wednesday, December 4, 1991 25

‘Bob Beckett: Training here makes economic sense.

Ken Jones: Fire service managers have. to do their homework.

Bill:Warcup: The more tools you have, the better off you are.

further. On Nov. 22 and 23, Terrace firefighters who attended the program gave a mini-course on what they learned to other members of the department.

With a training program in place, something further is required: greater awareness of the firefighters’ rea! functions so fire department costs are seen by the community in a more accu- tate perspective. .

As Ken Jones, the Ontario fire

official who ran Auto Extrication 1991, points out, municipal governments constantly find themselves in a budgetary bind and are forced to weigh the value of purchasing a new fire engine, for example, with a new

grader. And the grader, of:

course, will show more tangible results, ' "But it’s very difficult to do it

‘without the proper tools and

without the proper training," says Jones. "And sometimes the equipment is not there or the

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training is not there because of budgetary restraints. Therefore, the fire service managers obvi- ously have to do their homework to convince their councils.

For the Terrace fire depart- ment, though, a new fire engine isn’t on the wish list at the pres- ent time. We asked firefighter Bill Warcup what be believed was needed most and he answered by listing a few basic tools.

In rescuing trapped victims of automobile accidents a manual spreader. is useful in tight spots where: the hydraulic spreader won't fit. A: simple reciprocal

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‘saw with the right kind of blade would be much safer than using

a fire axe to remove wind- shields, More come-alongs are

. required and so are the appropri-

ate chains. And there’s some- thing new, a device called a hydraulic ram. This ‘useful piece of equipment can roll the dash tight off the front of a car.

"If you come onto a situation," says Warcup. "you had better be able to handle it to the best of your ability. And if the equip- ment’s not there it’s going to be a lot more difficult, isn’t it? So the more tools you have, the better off you’re going to be."

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