The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) says its Firefighter Work Experience Pilot Program (WEP) was a resounding success over the summer.
“This year’s Work Experience Program was successful in enhancing our seasonal regional wildfire readiness and response resulting in positive results on several occasions,” said Columbia Valley Rural Fire and Rescue Service Chief Drew Sinclair.
“These qualified firefighters were able to broaden their experience and skill base in a number of disciplines while bolstering our existing paid on-call numbers and allowing us to increase our public outreach programs this year as well.”
The RDEK recruited eight WEP students to learn and work with fire departments in Jaffray, Baynes Lake, Elko, Hosmer, Fairmont, Windermere, Edgewater, and Panorama.
Elk Valley & South Country Rural Fire and Rescue Chief Michael Hockley says the students were a big help during the summer months.
“The summertime is usually our busiest season, it’s also when staffing is at our lowest with people away on holidays and vacation,” said Hockley.
“It augmented our current staffing model. We’re a composite hall with three career firefights in the Elk Valley and the rest are paid on-call. The work experience worked out really well to bolster our staffing through the summer.”
WEP firefighters gained first-hand experience in firefighting, medical calls, wildland fire, and highway rescue.
“They come to work for the fire department and get the experience for a short period of time,” said Hockley.
“It helps them get employment with larger, municipal fire departments when they put that in their resume. A lot of departments look for that work experience.”
Hockley says it’s a mutually beneficial program for students, fire departments and the community.
“The positive contributions that our WEP students made allowed us to not only respond to fires and emergencies within our region in an effective way, but also meant that we had enough coverage in our home halls to allow members from our departments to assist in other parts of the province during heavy wildfire activity this year,” said Hockley.
“The program has proven to be incredibly successful both for the students and our Regional Fire Service, and I hope to see it continue for years to come.”
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