Firefighter Monunment designs go on display

Story contributed by www.cbc.ca

Five designs for a monument dedicated to Canadian firefighters who died in the line of duty were displayed to the public for the first time on Thursday, with work from artists including Douglas Coupland, Ken Lum and Myfanwy Macleod.

The finalists in the design competition for the Canadian Firefighters Memorial were unveiled Thursday evening at the National Capital Commission in Ottawa.

Proposals for the monument included designs such as a giant firepole that acts as a lightning rod, protecting a tree and monument underneath; a wave of names of fallen firefighters that flow across like water; and an 11-meter-long, 4¼-metre-high wall of fire.

The monument, expected to be completed and unveiled in March 2012, will be located at LeBreton Flats, near the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. The capital commission donated the land for the monument.

Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the charity working to build the monument, says over 1,000 firefighters have died in the line of duty in Canada since 1848.

Read more: Click here for full story from CBC.ca

Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundations Website can be found at www.cfff.ca.


Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com/

Nanaimo Fire Department hires its first professional female firefighter

Nanaimo Fire Department hires its first professional female firefighter
by Krysta Bryce, The Daily News

Julie Wade will become the first profession female firefighter in Nanaimo in 150 years. Wade has been a volunteer firefighter for 3 years and her transition into full time should be seamless.

To read full story click here.

Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com

Off-duty firefighter carries dog from burning home

Every animal should be lucky enough to have a person like firefighter Ryan Cody living next door.

On Tuesday, the off-duty firefighter risked his own life to rescue Maya, a three-year-old Labrador retriever, from a neighbour's home when it caught fire at about 11:30 a.m. CT in St. Andrews, Manitoba.

Read full story here.

by James Turner, CBC News

Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com

"They (Firefighters) Saved My Wife's Life"

A pair of off-duty Kingston firefighters are being credited with saving a woman's life after a car wreck in a northern Ontario snowstorm last weekend.

The man driving the minivan involved in the accident with a loaded tractor-trailer says Craig Rundle and Tim Restoule, who work on the same crew at the Brock Street fire hall, saved his wife's life after the crash near Ignace last Saturday afternoon.

The two firefighters were returning from their annual elk-hunting trip in Alberta when they happened upon an accident between a jackknifed transport truck and a minivan on a desolate stretch of the Trans-Canada near Ignace, Ontario, just minutes after it occurred.

Dunk's wife was trapped in the car with injuries including a large gash on her leg and was going into shock.

Dunk wasn't seriously hurt, but says the two firefighters calmed him down at the scene.

"One of the biggest things they did was stop me from pulling my wife out of the car and making her injuries worse," he said.

The two firefighters carried a first aid kit in their truck-"a little bigger kit than most people would carry" Restoule acknowledged -- and treated Dunk's wife while still trapped in the car, covering her with jackets and blankets to stop her going further into shock and stopping her bleeding.

They did the same to Dunk when they noticed him starting to shake as the adrenaline from the accident wore off.

It took nearly an hour for help to reach the scene, owing to the worsening weather and confusion about where the accident occurred, and the two kept the trapped woman stable.

The firefighters play down their contribution, saying any other first responder would have done the same, and didn't make a big deal out of the incident. It was Dunk who contacted the media to publicly express his thanks.

"These two guys were totally professional and I can't say how grateful I am that they were there, because there's no question in my mind that they saved my wife's life."

Story courtesay of The Kingston Whig Standard. Click here to read the full article.


Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com

Waterloo Firefighter Best in the World

He’s the strongest firefighter in the world. He’s Dwayne Drover, a Waterloo firefighter who won the World’s Firefighter Combat Challenge in Las Vegas last weekend.

“I won the world championship,” Drover said Monday. “It is still surreal. I still don’t believe it.”

He beat 100 other teams from around the world and beat the American firefighter who has held the world’s title for the past three years.

“This is the race that is going to go down in the books,” Drover said of beating the previous three-time champion.

“I was considered the underdog going into it and I came out on top,” said the 34-year-old firefighter.

The competition involves a gruelling obstacle course.

Firefighters, dressed in their uniforms, complete with helmets and oxygen tanks, drag about 20 kilograms of hose up more than six flights of stairs.

They haul another 19 kilograms of hose up by rope and then must run down the stairs without missing a step.

They tackle a “forcible entry machine,” where competitors must move a 63-kilogram pressured device 1.5 metre by hitting it with a rubber sledgehammer.

Firefighters drag a 153-kilogram running hose 22.5 metres and then hit a target before navigating a series of pylons.

Then there’s Rescue Randy, the 79-kilogram dummy that competitors drag backward 30 metres.

They must finish in less than two minutes.

Drover did it in one minute, 26 seconds.

“It is what they call the toughest two minutes in sports,” said the five-year firefighter.

And what’s the attraction of putting yourself through this ordeal.

“I just love challenging myself,” Drover said.

He takes the sport so seriously that he trains up to 30 hours a week and works with a personal trainer.

And he plans to defend the title next year.

“Getting there is hard enough, but keeping it is ever harder.”

Article courtesay of The Record.


Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com

Climbing the ladder while watching the rear-view mirror

Written by Lou Wilde, Assistant Chief, Kelowna BC

Sometimes, with the busy lives we all lead, we forget where we’ve come from. It happens to all of us to some extent in our personal lives and our careers. I hope as a chief officer I haven’t lost too much perspective about what it’s like in the trenches. I’m sure I could still charge a hand line and set a relief valve correctly but I don’t get out of bed nine times on a night shift anymore. I do my best to keep in touch with those who are still doing the job out there every day and night.

Talking with a fellow chief about this recently, we discussed the newer junior officers (lieutenants and captains). We remarked that every now and then these newly minted officers forget that they used to be grunts doing the dirty jobs, or how when they were firefighters they were the smart alecs who often challenged officers on their decisions. Now, these new officers have no tolerance for the firefighters they used to be – the shoe’s on the other foot. The same goes for training. Before, as firefighters, these guys perhaps thought that repetitive drills on basic skills were pointless but now, as officers, they realize that the onus is on them to keep their people safe.

To read full article, click here.

Article published on Firefightingincanada.com.

Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com/

West Kelowna Wildfire T-Shirts

"As a community, you really pulled together. I'm proud to be your mayor," stated West Kelowna Mayor, Doug Findlater. This statement is taken from a speech given at the appreciation night at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna held to say thank you to fire fighters and all first responders following the wildfires of 2009.

West Kelowna Fire Rescue is selling commemorative t-shirts of the 2009 Wildfires and net proceeds are being donated to the local community food bank.

T-shirts are available through West Kelowna Fire Rescue at 250-769-1640 ext 4 or email Laura.MacLeod@districtofwestkelowna.ca. Men's, Ladies and Youth sizes available for $20.00/each.

Men's navy t-shirt picture shown, ladies available on brown or navy Bella ladies cut shirt and youth is available on red or camoflague t-shirts.


Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com

King Township wins vehicle safety award

Oct 14, King Township, ONT.

King Fire and Emergency Services has won the 2009 Emergency Vehicle Safe Operation Achievement Award, an international honour presented annually by the volunteer and combination officers section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The King Township Sentinel reports. READ MORE

Article courtesay of King Township Sentinel at www.kingsentinel.com.

Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com

Cooking with bravery

When last we met Winnipeg firefighter Jeff Derraugh, our intrepid local hero had just released his first cook book, Fire Hall Cooking With Jeff the Chef. Now, just over two years have passed and Derraugh has released a second cookbook, Where There's Food There's Firefighters: More Surefire Recipes to Feed Your Crew (Touchwood Editions, $19.95).

This husband and father of five and grandfather of two attributes the popularity of the first book to good old-fashioned-word-of-mouth. Six months after the first printing, a second was ordered.

"I wrote it to have it be conversational, so that the book is kind of "talking to you," says Derraugh, "I think it should read like a conversation, like you're there and you're kibitzing in the kitchen. It seemed to be what people liked about the first book."...[read more]

Source: Winnipeg Free Press (click for full story)

Becky Harmata
The Fire Emporium
Toll Free: 866-832-1468
Fax: 250-769-3588
Email: info@fireemporium.com
Web: http://www.fireemporium.com/