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BC Firefighter Dies While on Duty

Dan Botkin and his new wife, Miranda

You’ve probably already heard the news. Last Thursday, December 29th, Daniel Botkin, a volunteer firefighter with the Enderby Fire Department was killed while fighting a fire at a log home construction business. They were in the mop-up phase and were just about to remove their hoses from the scene when an explosion took place in a storage container. Botkin was killed and another firefighter was injured in the explosion.

Hornby Island Fire Rescue is deeply saddened by Botkin’s death and holds his new wife, family, and the Enderby Fire Department close in our thoughts and prayers. Two of our members will be attending the service in Enderby on Thursday.

New Techniques

Firefighters are conditioned to reach for the water as soon as they arrive on scene. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Put water on the fire and it goes away. 5 of us went to a course last weekend where the instructor made a pretty convincing case that the ventilation fan should be the first thing off of the truck. The Comox Valley Chiefs Association brought in the guru of a technique that is quickly taking hold called “positive pressure attack”. Kriss Garcia has been championing, honing, and researching PPA for over 20 years now.

The idea goes like this. Fire is predictable and can be extinguished. Smoke, on the other hand, will obscure any visibility, will kill occupants, and can explode if conditions are right. If you can create an exhaust hole, and turn on a large fan at the front door you can clear the smoke and reduce the temperature in the building in just a few seconds. Firefighters can then enter a building and search for occupants and the fire by walking through the building instead of crawling.

Kriss has disproven many myths put forward by people wary of PPA. He has shown that blowing the smoke and heat through the building will not advance the fire. Firefighters that are caught between the fire and the exhaust hole feel no increase in heat. Positive pressure will not blow fire into electrical outlets or holes in the wall.

We’re very excited to try out this new technique in our upcoming practices. Its not everyday that you learn something that turns a whole industry’s methodology on its head.

People We Love

Sure, friends and family are a given but something happened today to make me think of some of the other people who are great supporters of HIFR.

Leslee Richards, the proprietor of Pizza Galour, stopped me at the Co-op to tell me that she had a box of pizza slices in her freezer for the fire department. I stopped by to pick it up and there must have been 10 pizzas worth of slices in the box. Thank you so much, Leslee, for that great donation. There are few things that the crew enjoys more after practice than a slice or two of your pizza.

Along those lines, Helene Cregheur, the proprietor of the Cardboard House bakery often has a box of sweets for us to be consumed after practice or callouts. Her cream cheese brownies are my personal favourite and there is never anything left but crumbs when we put them out.

Graham and Gloria Herbert almost always drop off a bag of gourmet cookies when they come back from a town day, and Elenora Laffin rarely sends Julian to practice without baking something for the crew. Honeybee Smith shows up every so often with one of her fabulous lemon pies, as well.

Being a part of the fire department is a huge commitment that comes with the stress of responsibility and many hours spent away from work or family. Often the thought of a Thursday night practice after a long day of work is almost unbearable, but the knowledge that we have the support of the community is very motivating.

Thank you to all those that I’ve mentioned above and anyone else that has dropped off food or given us an encouraging word. You are why we do what we do.

Orlando Graham’s Poster

I remembered a wildfire prevention poster contest we had in the school in 2006 for the Grade 3-5 class. The students were asked to draw a poster of what they thought would be a clear and simple message to warn of the dangers of wildfire. The winner of the contest would have their design made into posters, which would be used in a campaign to increase public awareness on the Island and on the Mt. Geoffrey trail system.

Orlando’s design was clearly the best we received (as voted by the firefighters). He had captured the
essence of the impact of wildfires on the forest and the creatures that live there. As modest as ever, Orlando didn’t sign his art and by the time I had all the copies made and laminated and magnetic signs made, it was too late to get his signature on them. You will still see them around; stapled to the trees at trail entrances and on the sides of our department vehicles.

I will have new copies made and posted to once again remind everyone of the impact our actions can have on our forests and wildlife.

Giff La Rose, Fire Chief

Search and Rescue Update

Hornby Island Fire Rescue, along with many other community members, has been involved in an intense ground search for Orlando Graham. The RCMP, 442 Squadron from CFB Comox, Canadian Coast Guard. the Rescue Coordination Center in Victoria, Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue, and many other Search and Rescue (SAR) groups from Campbell River to Cowichan, have been searching the water and land since Wednesday night. At times there were upwards of 75 people working within the organized search plan and countless others searching on their own.

The response from the Hornby Island community has been every bit as generous as we’ve come to expect. The various SAR teams have been astounded by how well our island has looked after them and supported their efforts. We’re extremely proud of our island and particularly proud of our Fire Department. Our members absolutely shone in their assigned tasks, demonstrating professionalism, passion, and dedication to the job.

We can’t thank enough everyone who helped out, but there were some standouts. Valerie Pagnier came 4 times with batches of fresh baking and Mia Wood made lunch for 40 people. Rachelle Chinnery and Theresa Hamilton did a search detail, then worked the rest of Thursday and Friday coordinating food and coffee. Ian Emberton took time away from the new twins to transport food and to make a batch of cookies. Many other Islanders patiently waited to be assigned a search team and then diligently carried out their task.

Wilson Curry worked tirelessly all Thursday doing several search details. Then at the end of the day slipped on a rock and badly sprained his ankle. We wish him a speedy recovery and thank him for his hard work.

At this time the command structure of all of the involved organizations agree that any location where Orlando would be if he was injured or needing help has been exhaustively searched by both people and 4 dog teams. There is, however, no conclusive evidence to indicate what has happened to him. Please have a good look in any of your outbuildings, cabins, or structures.

The off island SAR teams have left and aren’t expected to return unless additional information or clues emerge. The RCMP will continue to comb the coastline from the water as well as exploring other investigative avenues. The Fire Department has stood down but is ready to start it all over again if something comes up.

All of our members, as well as the community at large, are extremely saddened by Orlando’s disappearance. Our hearts go out to Veronica, Renaud, and the rest of Orlando’s family.

Chief Giff LaRose
Deputy Chief Doug Chinnery

If you have any concerns or questions about the search please contact Doug at 218-9156 or Giff at 335.1115. We are happy to provide any information that we can.

Training Training Training

Like most aspects of life, the training is never complete in the fire service. The last few weeks have been particularly packed with our members upgrading their skills.

Al Cannon went to Maple Ridge for a 4 day rescue basics course. Although Al is fully competent in rope rescue and auto extrication, this course is the prerequisite for all other advanced rescue courses like confined space rescue.

We sent Duncan MacCaskill and Sasha LeBaron to Abbottsford to take part in a training officers conference where they also did a 2 day low angle auto extrication course. These skills would come into play if a car went off of and of the many steep embankments that we have around here. They also took a drills development course to improve our weekly practices.

Doug Chinnery and Giff LaRose also went to Abbottsford where they joined Duncan and Sasha for  a 2 day course in leadership for the fire service. This course teaches leadership and communication skills tweaked for the fire service.

Julian Laffin and Mike Nordmann did a 1 day course in Comox where they got the basics of emergency scene management. This will enable them to take command of a scene if they are the first arriving officers.

Patrick Lui continues his rookie training in hopes that by fall he will have completed his basic firefighter training and will become a full member of the group.

Training is the biggest part of what we do. Every week we train in house, and several times a year our members get send off island for more in depth training. We’re proud of our training record and the quality of skills and knowledge held in our small department.

 

School Kids Visit for Fire Safety

School children visit HIFR for fire safety workshopOn May 16th, the Fire Department was pleased to welcome 6 students from our local school to attend a morning class on fire safety around the house. Led by 3 of our fire fighters, we started the morning off with a discussion about what fire is and what we need to be concerned about. Our knowledgeable students then joined us in the kitchen to examine what is hot or not, if it is safe to leave pans on the stove, and why it is not safe to play in the kitchen. We finished the morning off in a room filled with thick smoke and the sounds of fire and smoke detectors while a fire fighter came to our “rescue”. This gave our students a chance to recognize what it would sound like and look like if a fire ever happened at home and get some tips on how to react. After a final chat upstairs our students returned to school with smoke detectors to be installed in their bedrooms, a map to plan their escape routes, and some quiz books to encourage additional learning.

We would like to remind families that it is recommended that they install smoke detectors in each bedroom and all the major rooms in your home. They should be tested and have the cobwebs cleaned out monthly, and have their batteries replaced each year. If you find you have to pull the batteries to “shut up that smoke detector” you may be interested in kitchen smoke detectors that have 5 minute “snooze buttons” on them. After 5 minutes they will turn themselves back on ensuring you are alerted to possible fire emergencies. Advanced warning of a fire is the best insurance you have that your loved ones will not get hurt. Take the time to establish your escape routes, decide where to meet outside the home, and practice it yearly.

Our volunteer Fire Department is committed to the life time task of understanding fire and protecting our community. If you have a Hornby Island group that would like to spend time with our fire fighters learning more about safety in the home or business, please contact Hornby Island Fire Rescue. We are always delighted when our community members join in our passion.

We thank Ruth, Aaidan, Braelin, Jade, Raylen, Sarah, and Sequoia for investing in their future by coming to learn about fire and how to stay safe. It was a fun and productive morning.