Monday, October 01, 2007

Fire Department burned on past training, begins process to offer it once again


The plan to implement the auxiliary fire fighter program is apparently back on track, as the City of Prince Rupert begins to actively seek out new recruits to work for the Prince Rupert Fire Rescue Service in an auxiliary capacity.

It’s a program that has had some rough times over the last few years, as past recruits would take part in the extensive training program and then in some cases, take their new found skills off to other locations where full time opportunities presented them with the possibility of long term employment.

The city is hoping to bring the auxiliary program back up to the twelve member strength, which it first proposed back in the Victor Kumar days at city hall, which was when the project once again gained new life.

During the last municipal election campaign the plan became one of the more controversial issues at the time and to this day still seems to raise the temperature of the average Podunkian. The plan to make use of the Auxiliaries has provided no shortage of opportunities for debate, with concerns over inferior service and potential safety issues raised in the past.

The concern of course for many residents is the fact that once the recruits are trained, they would prefer to use their new skills to improve their chances of full time employment, but in a catch 22 situation there are relatively few full time opportunities available with the Prince Rupert Fire Rescue service.

Those recruits of course then seek out new possibilities taking their training with them and to a degree Prince Rupert ends up providing the basic training for other areas which are growing and in need of fire fighter personnel.

There seems little that the City can do about the migration of trained recruits in search of full time employment, as there is no current plan in place to increase the complement of the city’s fire department with full time personnel. That leaves the new recruits with little incentive to stick around in an auxiliary capacity, especially when there are jobs out there for those with proper training.

When you factor in the amount of time and money dedicated to the training of the auxiliaries, you can’t help but wonder if this is the best strategy to address the needs of the fire department.

The prospect of spending money here to provide potential staff members for fire departments elsewhere, isn’t one that seems to be providing the best result for this community. If there has been an identified need for further fire personnel locally, perhaps there should be a few full time positions created to help take off the pressure of the current staff.

If there were to be a few full time positions created, at least the potential of retaining the new recruits has a better chance of taking hold and the valuable time spent training them won’t be going to waste.

That might be something that council could address despite their well documented commitment to the program. Taking the time to find out if the current auxiliary plan as it exists today, is providing the residents of the city with the best possible return on their tax dollars.
If not, the plan should be modified to best address the requirements of the Prince Rupert Fire Department, as well as ensure that the comprehensive training that is being provided is not going to waste or to some other community's benefit.

The Daily News featured the call for recruits as its front page story in Monday’s paper.

FIRE DEPARTMENT OFFERING HOT-TICKET TRAINING IN-HOUSE
Auxiliary firefighters will get the chance to complete sought-after programs
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Monday, October 1, 2007
Pages one and three

People who are physically fit with a strong desire to serve the community are being urged to consider serving Prince Rupert as an auxiliary firefighter in the coming years.

Currently, the Prince Rupert Fire Department is looking to rebuild its Auxiliary force back to a dozen or so members, after a number of members departed to pursue full-time firefighter employment in other places, or left for personal reasons.

Fire Chief Ron Miller has had difficulty maintaining the auxiliary force, primarily because the training offered to recruits at no charge is equivalent to the training offered in fire academy programs for thousands of dollars.

Both courses allow candidates to work toward graduating with the National Fire Protection Association 1001 standard for basic firefighting training.

“Most of the people who want to be Auxiliary Firefighters are people that want to become career Firefighters somewhere down the road,” said Miller.

“They see that getting outside training is very expensive if you go to the B. C. Fire Academy, where the minimum is a 12-week program which ranges around $15,000, and, of course, you’re not getting paid while you’re doing the training.”

This makes the training offered by local departments tempting to aspiring firefighters, since they don’t have to pay for the education, they are paid for weekly training time, and recruits do not have to travel outside of their community for the training.

The downside is that instead of an intensive 12-week course, completing the basic NFP 1001 training with a local detachment can take up to two years, since participants receive only two hours of class and practical training each week.

However, gaining full-time employment with a fire department anywhere in Canada is still a very daunting task even with NFPA 1001 certification because the numbers of applicants that will respond to any opening is staggering.

“For example, if you look at Vancouver Fire, I believe their last posting was for 12 positions and they had something like 2,800 applicants,” said Miller.

“Of course, those are quickly brought down to 1,000, and that number starts going down through testing and finding out if somebody has actually got the aptitude and such.”

Miller wants to make it clear that only serious applicants should put their names forward for this round of auxiliary recruiting, and he says those who just have dreams of riding on the back of the fire truck should wait until the next city parade.

There are currently only five auxiliary members operating in Prince Rupert, and Miller would like to get that number back up to 12 as soon as possible.

“We’re really trying to build a nucleus and get something started, so these people need to be devoted to putting in the time to completing all the modules of training,” said Miller.

“We need people willing to make a commitment to us and the community, and a lot of people don’t realize the time and energy that needs to go into training before they start.”

Application forms are available at the fire hall at 200 First Ave. West. Completed forms should be accompanied by detailed resumes attention of Chief Ron Miller.

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