Volunteer firefighters from Yukon fire halls in Carmacks, Mount Lorne, Hootalinqua, Atlin and Ibex Valley participated in two-day training exercises featuring a series of live-fire scenarios designed to prepare volunteers for a range of emergency situations, including house and vehicle fires as well as propane-related incidents.
From June 14 to 15, the Ibex Valley Fire Rescue hall hosted 12 of Yukon’s volunteer firefighters for the first of three summer bootcamps aimed at preparing them for a range of emergency scenarios they may face in their communities, Captain Dennis Berry of the Ibex Valley Fire Rescue hall told the News.
A heavy rescue training bootcamp, featuring lifting techniques and cribbing exercises involving a tractor-trailer, a bus and a cement truck, is also scheduled for this summer, along with officer training focused on field leadership and personnel management, Berry said.
“It's really important that we keep people's skill set sharp and that really was up to our volunteers at Ibex. When we built this facility, we thought we're going to open this facility up and let other people use it and bring other people here to ensure that they're getting the training they need,” Berry said.
Under the Yukons Occupational Health and Safety Act, all career firefighters must meet minimum job performance requirements and regularly recertify to maintain operational readiness, Berry said. He added while these standards set the baseline, much of the territory’s volunteer firefighting training is powered by grassroots volunteer commitment, not government mandate.
The Ibex Valley training facility, built entirely by volunteers over seven years, stands as an example of those grassroots efforts. Volunteers welded props, secured donations and constructed live-fire infrastructure, creating a space where volunteer firefighters from a range of backgrounds, including many women, train to sharpen life-saving skills when their communities call upon them.
"I don't think there is a single background that can't come into the fire service and apply what they do in their job. Everybody can swing an axe, everybody can hold a hose, but, you know, even if you were someone—'Oh, I'm an accountant'— okay, great. Turns out we've got lots of administrators doing this here too, right? There's no shortage of skill sets," Berry said.
Volunteer fire departments in Yukon encourage participation from individuals with a wide range of professional backgrounds, including carpenters, administrators, welders and those with emergency medical training, Berry said. He added no prior firefighting experience is required and recruits are encouraged to contribute their existing skills to the team.
To encourage recruitment, fire halls host public events and bootcamps that offer insight into the role and responsibilities of volunteer firefighters. According to Berry, these sessions highlight the urgency and importance of the work as volunteers respond to emergency calls in remote communities outside Whitehorse, where every second during an emergency counts.
The Ibex Valley and Hootaliqua fire departments have adopted an “automatic aid” model, responding jointly to every call to ensure adequate manpower. Both fire halls also work together to share training resources and collaborate with the Special Heavy Operations Team to broaden emergency response capabilities across the region, Berry said.
Looking ahead, Berry told the News plans are underway to expand the Ibex Valley facility’s use of its second floor indoor fire simulator for live-fire and high-angle rescue training. Organizers aim to increase the frequency of specialized camps for volunteers and continue enhancing training capabilities to support the needs of Yukon’s volunteer firefighting teams.
"We also ran, last year, Ember Academy, which is the women's firefighting academy that ran out of here as well," Berry said.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correctly identify Dennis Berry, not Darren, as the captain of the Ibex Valley Fire Rescue Hall. It has also been updated to reflect that the automatic aid model is between the Ibex Valley and Hootalinqua fire departments.
