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HIFR Is Recruiting

Summer has gone and the fall training season is upon us. This is the time where we train our new recruits to be firefighters. This is not some backwoods training. we train our firefighters to the industry standard qualifications. If you go through our entire training program you will have the qualifications necessary to get a job at a career department.

Joining the fire department is extremely rewarding. I know I’m not alone in saying that I’ve gotten more out of the department than I’ve put in.

Please call myself (Doug Chinnery 335.3444) or our chief (Giff LaRose 335.1115) if you have any questions. There are applications available at the free post in the Fire Department box, or download one here.

Fall Faire

Ashe Samuel about to ring the bell

The Hornby Island Fall Faire is the favorite island event of many people. We at the fire department feel that way as well. It’s a great time to show off our #1 engine, stir up interest in joining the department, and distribute some smoke detectors.

This year’s faire was even more fun due to Lloyd House’s amazing contribution. Lloyd built a “Test Your Strength” machine, otherwise known as a “high striker” and gave it to us to raise money for our volunteer fund. We offered 3 tries to ring the bell for 1 dollar and raised in the neighborhood of $180!

Lloyd’s high striker was a huge hit with the crowd. Big and small and old and young lined up to smash the machine and at times there were 50 or 60 spectators hooting, hollering, and cheering.

Huge thanks from us to the Fall Faire organizers and especially to Lloyd House for his incredible high striker machine. That kind of community spirit is what makes us live here.

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.