FFIC - ebruary 2024

WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU.

Commercial Emergency Equipment will be exhibiting across Canada this year at major trade shows and expos. Come visit our Apparatus Specialists at the following shows & events:

Mar 13-15 -

Mar 21-24Apr 14-17Apr 15-20May 1-4May 26-29May 30-Jun 1 -

Jun 2-3 -

Jun 3-5 -

Jun 6-8 -

Sep 3-7 -

Sep 13-14 –Oct 17 -

Oct 2024 -

Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities Trade Show – Regina, SK

Northeastern Fire Education Trade Show – Huntsville, ON

Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association - Regina, SK

Fire Department Instructors Conference – Indianapolis, IN

Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs Trade Show – Mississauga, ON

Alberta Fire Chiefs Association Trade Show – Calgary, AB

Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs Trade Show – North Battleford, SK

BC Fire Expo – Kamloops, BC

Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators Trade Show – Banff, AB

Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs Trade Show – Virden, MB

FireCon Conference and Trade Show – Thunder Bay, ON

Northern H.E.A.T. Symposium – Peace River, AB

Canadian Wildfire Conference – Kelowna, BC

Alberta Fire Training Conference – Lethbridge, AB

10 GETTING AHEAD OF THE FLAMES

Where is the fire service at in addressing the dangers posed by lithiumion battery fires for themselves and the public?

By Laura Aiken

24 WHAT IS RESILIENCE?

We hear a lot about building resilience, needing resilience…but the term lacks a clear definition in mental health literacy.

By Nick Halmasy,

MACP, Registered

Psychotherapist

COLUMNS DEPARTMENTS

MacKenzie

Making modifications

We are debuting FFIC’s redesign for our first edition of 2024. Change is good and can be smooth as a two-knot breeze. This was an exciting meeting of minds that was just that. Modifications with minimal resistance — we must always appreciate smooth project collaboration.

As we all know, modifying human behaviour is a whole other beast, categorically singular in its difficulty. Whether we are breaking a habit, adopting a new one, shifting a mind-set or simply getting educated, it requires a focus that I fear is being degraded in the screen dominated virtual landscape of our modern world. For the fire service, public education has probably never had more noise to cut through and disparate filters through which to disseminate. Reaching your target audience with the information is just one victory. Implementation can require a combination of internal motivation and external deterrence. We would do well to remember that no one changed their drinking and driving habits because the laws got laxer.

And for lead foots like myself, the prospect of a speeding ticket was undesirable yet palatable… having my vehicle impounded and losing my licence…not so much.

What behaviour is the fire service keen to change in the public these days? There seem to be two top agenda items that inevitably save lives: working smoke alarms and lithium-ion battery safety.

I live in Ontario. It is the law to have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside all sleeping areas. We’ve had many years of awareness, education and legislation surrounding smoke alarms…yet when Toronto Fire Services launched a new smoke alarm awareness campaign in 2022, it was on the heels of data showing that in the preceding five years, 59 per cent of fires in single-family residential homes did not have a working one. In 2023, after a rise in fire fatalities, Ontario launched its first Test Your Smoke Alarm day on Sept. 28. The bottom line? The fire service is still working very diligently to address human

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

living on First Nations reserves are 10 times more likely to die from fires than the general population, shows data from the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council.

behaviour around smoke alarms after all this time. There are many who have gotten the message and improved their safety measures. Small wins are big wins over time, but the work is never done.

Which leads us to our more recent and growing challenge: lithium-ion battery (LIB) fires. The technology has exploded faster than information, codes and standards have been able to keep up.

But far from being left in the dust, the fire service has tackled the issue head on and made excellent strides in getting resources and plans in place for response, training and education. One hopes the public knows how hard the fire service has worked, and continues to work, to quite frankly save them from themselves, so they can bear a full appreciation for Canada’s all-hazards responders.

LAURA AIKEN Editor laiken@annexbusinessmedia.com

of fire departments in Canada are using pumper fire trucks that are more than 15-years-old, reported the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.

THE THREE MOST EFFECTIVE SMOKE ALARM INTERVENTIONS

A recent study done by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health on Surrey, B.C.’S HomeSafe program concluded that household visits by firefighters, free smoke alarm inspections and installations upon request, and validation of smoke alarms by fire crews were the most effective methods in the program.

Since 1990, wildfires across Canada have consumed an average of 2.5 million hectares per year, reported Natural Resources Canada, until 2023, when more than 18.5 million hectares burned in 10 provinces and two territories, Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre data shows.

THE 1ST COMMERCIAL

rechargeable lithium-ion battery was released in 1991 by Sony after almost 20 years of false commercial starts and developments by multiple scientists.

62 % of line-of-duty deaths among professional firefighters in Canada are the result of OCCUPATIONAL CANCERS, the International Association of Fire Fighters stated.

NEARLY

94 %

Labour relations lands in Toronto

The Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs (OAFC) and Hicks Morley law firm hosted their annual Labour Relations Seminar from Jan. 23 to 25 in Toronto.

The event drew a packed house and featured a full agenda at the Marriott Courtyard hotel, with attendees coming from Ontario and beyond.

The conference kicked off with an update from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office. Of note, they sent out a volunteer recruitment and retention survey in late 2023 that closed on Dec. 8. There were over 1,100 respondents and the results will be released soon.

An OAFC update followed. On the labour relations front, they shared that out of the 30,000 firefighters in Ontario, 18,000 are volunteer and only 16 per cent of the cancer claims come from volunteers, leading to the suggestion that departments ensure volunteers know they are supported as well.

Bargaining trends identified during the conference include more 24-hour shifts incorporated across the province, increased funds for mental health supports via the benefits package, and further seeking of police/fire parity.

Other topics covered were subtle acts of exclusions, responding to bullying and human rights allegations, WSIB and PTSD, media training for fire chiefs and a panel on service levels. Larry Iverson gave a keynote on reducing pressure and avoiding

Larry Iverson, PhD, delivered a keynote on reducing pressure and avoiding burnout at the OAFC’s Hicks Morley Labour Relations Seminar.

burnout. Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg delivered a keynote on leadership lessons learned the hard way.

Paul Hutt, the fire chief for Ottawa, was awarded Fire Chief of the Year.

The 2025 Hicks Morley Labour Relations Seminar will be held from Jan. 21 to 25 in Toronto.

Honour House Society receives 10K donation

The Honour House Society in British Columbia received a $10,000 donation from the Delta Firefighters Charitable Society. The donation was made as part of the December Days of Giving campaign held annually by the Delta firefighters.

“It was a big surprise for us, and we were very grateful. For every dollar we get we stretch it to about $1.52 because we’re 100 per cent volunteer driven,” said Honour House Society president

Allan De Genova. “What Delta Firefighters Charitable Society has done is going to make huge differences for us this coming year.”

Some of the funds will go towards refurbishing the building but most of it will be used at Honour Ranch, where the society’s equine program is held.

De Genova said he was blown away by the generosity from the department.

“For something like this to come from our men and women who serve, every dollar they raise takes a lot of work…they always want to give back. It’s amazing, I just don’t know how they constantly can manage it. But I have to say, who really shined this year, who went above and beyond was Delta Firefighters Charitable Society.”

Honour House is a home away from home for emergency services personnel (both active and retired) including firefighters, police officers, paramedics, search and rescue, emergency dispatchers, coast and border guards, corrections and conservation officers, sheriffs, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans and their families to stay free of charge while they receive medical care and treatment in the Metro Vancouver area. De Genova said the house is open all year round and is available to members for as long as they need.

The Honour House Society serves as a respite for first responders and military members who need medical care in metro Vancouver. .

Fire Chief Deryn Rizzi receives Lieutenant Governor’s Medal of Distinction

Deryn Rizzi, Mississauga’s fire chief and director of emergency management, has been awarded the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal of Distinction in Public Administration. The award will be presented by the lieutenant governor at a ceremony in Toronto on Feb. 28.

Rizzi’s distinguished career in the fire service is a testament to her unwavering commitment to public

service, the lieutenant governor’s office said in a press release. She is being recognized for her dedication to inclusion, accountability, and service delivery.

Rizzi began her fire fighting career with Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service where she rose through the ranks, holding the positions of training officer, captain, deputy fire chief, and fire chief. In 2021 she was hired as fire chief for Mississauga. She is also a PhD candidate at York University.

In 2018, under her leadership, Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service received a 100 per cent citizen satisfaction score, the highest rating in the city’s history. In 2022, she oversaw emergency management in Mississauga, which received national and international recognition for resilient community programming.

In recognition of her significant contributions to the fire service industry, Rizzi was also awarded Fire Chief of the Year in 2023 by the Ontario Municipal Fire Prevention Officers Association and was named on Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 list by WXN in 2022.

AFCA calls for unified wildfire response

The Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA) is calling on the province to disclose its wildfire preparedness strategy.

In an open letter to the province, the association said there is a growing concern among fire chiefs across the province regarding the lack of communication of what the government’s plan will be for the upcoming wildfire season, and what will be the allocation of funds.

“Municipal fire chiefs agree that a repeat of the approach to the 2023 fire season cannot occur,” AFCA president Fire Chief Randy Schroeder said. “Fire chiefs are looking for assurance of an appropriate amount of funding, planning, and coordination occurring between all affected ministries responsible in keeping Albertans safe. This requires strategic coordination, proper planning, and communication, along with appropriate funding levels to support municipalities in community protection.”

THE FIRE HALL BULLETIN

PROMOTIONS & APPOINTMENTS

Alberta’s Red Deer County appointed DRAYTON BUSSIERE as its new fire chief. He started his career in 2004 as a paid-oncall firefighter and rose through the ranks to become the first full-time deputy fire chief for Lacombe County in 2015. He was promoted to chief in 2017. He also co-leads the central region all hazards incident management team.

JEFF SARGENT is the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley’s new fire chief. He joined the Ontario department in 1996 and was promoted to captain a decade later. He was promoted to acting deputy fire chief before becoming fire chief.

GENE RICHARDSON is the new fire chief in the Township of Rideau Lakes, Ont. The 30-year veteran comes from the Township of Lanark Highlands, where he served as fire chief for four years. Richardson has also served as a municipal councillor in Tay Valley Township from 2018 to 2022.

The city of Port Coquitlam in British Columbia promoted BLAKE CLARKSON to fire chief. He brings 18 years of fire service experience to the role, starting his career as a firefighter and gradually progressing into senior management positions within the city’s fire department. He was promoted to acting deputy fire chief of administration and support in 2021, a role that became permanent in 2023.

Sherbrooke, Que., promoted MARTIN PRIMEAU to fire chief and director and coordinator of civil security for the Sherbrooke Fire Department. He most recently held the role of division chief for the department.

DAN PARENT is Chatham-Kent Fire and Rescue’s new assistant fire chief. He is a 30-year EMS and fire fighting veteran, starting his career in 1991 as a paramedic with Chatham and district ambulance service in Wallaceburg, Ont.

He began as a volunteer firefighter with the Wallaceburg Fire Department in 1993 before becoming a career firefighter.

RETIREMENTS

Fire Chief MORGAN HACKL is retiring from the Saskatoon Fire Department after 36 years of service. He started his career as a firefighter for the department and then moved up the ranks to captain. He later served as battalion chief and assistant chief before being promoted to his current role in 2015. In September the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs recognized Hackl with the 2023 National Fire Chief of the Year award for his work on community safety and well-being, and for building partnerships.

Manitoba’s Assistant Deputy Fire Chief MIKE PENNER is retiring. He has spent 23 years with the Steinbach Fire Department, starting his fire service career in his early 30s. Penner has been the department’s assistant deputy chief for a decade.

Fire Chief STÉPHANE SIMONEAU is retiring from the Sherbrooke Fire Department after more than 30 years in the fire service. He started as a firefighter and rose through the ranks to the role of chief, which he held for a decade.

LAST ALARM

Etobicoke District (Ret.) Fire Chief JOHN GALLAGHER passed away at the age of 80 on Dec. 14. He spent 35 years as district chief, and volunteered as a firefighter in Huntsville, Ont., for 10 years after he retired. He also enjoyed woodworking and carpentry in his spare time.

Ret. Fire Chief WARREN CORP died at the age of 92 on Jan. 16 at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ont. He was the city’s first full-time firefighter, beginning his career in 1954. He rose through the ranks and became the fire chief in 1972, a position he held for several years. Corp was also a leader in unionizing Burlington firefighters and creating the Local 1552.

MAKING

DELIVERIES: This edition’s Brigade News features deliveries from Fort Garry Fire Trucks, Commercial Emergency Equipment and Safety Source Fire.

2 3 4

1. FORT MACLEOD FIRE DEPARTMENT

Fort Macleod Fire Department in Alberta took delivery of an emergency rescue pumper from Fort Garry Fire Trucks. Manufactured on a Freightliner M2-106 chassis with a Hale RSD 1250 pump, Cummins L9 360 HP engine and an Allison 3000 EVS transmission, this vehicle comes with a Whelen light package, Foam Pro 2001, Akron Apollo monitor, and a Co-Poly 800 IG tank.

2. KIMBERLEY FIRE DEPARTMENT

Kimberley Fire Department in British Columbia took delivery of an enclosed side control emergency response pumper from Fort Garry Fire Trucks. Built on a Spartan Metro Star chassis with a Waterous CSU 1500 pump, Cummins L9 450 HP engine and an Allison 3000 EVS transmission, the pumper features a Whelen emergency and scene light package, Akron Ball valves, Foam Pro 2001, Harrison MCR 8kw hydraulic generator, Hannay cord reel, internal suction hose storage, trough tank ladder storage and a Co-Poly 500 IG tank.

3. ERMINESKIN FIRE DEPARTMENT

Ermineskin Fire Department in Alberta has taken delivery of a tanker from Fort Garry Fire Trucks. Manufactured on a Freightliner M2-106 chassis with a Hale 500 APS pump, the tanker features a Federal Signal light package and a Co-Poly 3000 IG tank.

4. HALTON HILLS FIRE DEPARTMENT

Halton Hills Fire Department in Ontario took delivery of an aerial from Commercial Emergency Equipment. Assembled on a Pierce Enforcer chassis with a Cummins X12 525 HP engine, this aerial features TAK-4 independent front suspension, spring rear suspension, Command Zone electrical system, Husky 3 foam system, Waterous Midship 2000 GPM pump and a 500 IG tank.

5. MISSISSAUGA FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES

Ontario’s Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services has taken delivery of a walk-in rescue from Commercial Emergency Equipment. Manufactured on a Pierce Enforcer chassis with a Cummins X12 455 HP engine, the rescue features a Command Zone electrical system, leaf front suspension, air rear suspension, and an Onan PTOdriven 25 kW generator.

6. TRURO FIRE SERVICE

Truro Fire Service in Nova Scotia took delivery of a pumper from Safety Source Fire. Manufactured on a Saber chassis with a Cummins L9 450 HP engine, this pumper features a Waterous Midship 1500 GPM pump, leaf front suspension, spring rear suspension, a hard wired electrical system, and a 1000 IG tank.

If your fire department recently took delivery of an apparatus, or you’re a manufacturer or dealer with deliveries to share, please email laiken@annexbusinessmedia.com.

LEADERSHIP FORUM

By Matthew Pegg , Fire Chief, Toronto

Matthew Pegg is the chief with Toronto Fire Services, having previously served in Georgina, Ajax and Brampton, Ont. Contact Matthew at matthew.pegg@toronto.ca and follow him on Twitter at @ChiefPeggTFS.

THE 24-HOUR RULE

I get it.

I know exactly what it feels like to want to react immediately when someone or something makes you angry or gets you fired up.

In today’s world, this can come from a myriad of sources. In-person discussions, phone calls, emails, text messages, social media, and a plethora of other channels can raise the temperature of even the coolest leaders among us.

The desire to respond quickly comes with the territory for many leaders. After all, we would rather be decisive than delay something to another day, or even another minute.

I remember when I was promoted into my very first leadership role. As issues arose, I wanted to be responsive and to deal with the issue of the day quickly.

I remember one particular issue that found me typing away feverishly in short order. My response (or rebuttal, as it likely was), was both articulate and pointed and I was ready to launch my counterattack before the ink was even dry on the page.

Like magic, the Chief appeared in the doorway of my office to check in on me and to chat. He asked me what I was working on, clearly seeing that I was visibly annoyed by something. I told him what had happened and then went on to explain what I was going to fire off in response.

His response surprised me. Instead of engaging in the issue and discussing or debating my proposed approach and planned course of action, he told me to finish writing

Unless someone’s life, health or safety are in immediate jeopardy, there is almost always wisdom in applying the 24-hour rule.

my response and then asked me to put it in my desk drawer for the next 24 hours. If, he said, when you reread it 24 hours from now, it makes sense and still seems like the right thing to do, send it.

As he turned to walk away, he explained that this was called the 24-hour rule and assured me this was a strategy that that had been very successful for him for many years.

You likely can figure out the rest of the story. The next day, after letting my response sit for 24 hours, I reread my draft response and immediately knew that it needed to significantly change. The benefit of a 24 hour cooling off period had afforded me clarity that wasn’t visible to me in the heat and emotion of the moment.

And there I was, saved from having to back myself out of an unnecessary corner, and saved from having to try to fix the unintended consequences of my actions, all by just following the 24-hour rule.

To this day, the 24-hour rule serves me well, and especially in our modern world of instant-access social media and digital messaging. The 24-hour rule allows a leader to review and consider their thoughts, plans and strategy with the benefit of being removed from the emotion of the moment.

Let me be very clear. There is a time and place for swift and immediate action, but very seldom does that occur outside the command post or away from the emergency scene. Far too many leaders try to lead people in daily life, in the same manner that

they command emergency incidents, and they generally fail in that attempt.

Unless someone’s life, health or safety are in immediate jeopardy, there is almost always wisdom in applying the 24-hour rule.

It still makes me smile when members of my team comment, and even complain, about how I will often have a different perspective on an issue once a bit of time passes. What may begin as a hot issue and impassioned debate, gives way to a calmer and wiser response after the issue simmers for 24 hours in my head.

Inexperienced and ineffective leaders mistake this tendency for weakness or a lack of ability to be swift and decisive. However, quite the contrary, this is the antithesis of weakness. This is calm, savvy, experience-based leadership at work.

Leaders who apply the 24-hour rule, more often than not, make better decisions, cause less collateral damage, and spend far less time having to extinguish the unintended flames they created with their hasty, ill-considered, emotion-fuelled responses.

The next time you feel the urge to respond immediately to an issue, especially one that involves the people whom you serve as a leader, ask yourself if there is an imminent risk to someone’s life or safety. If not, then apply the 24-hour rule and let your perspective, experience, and wisdom influence what your emotions want you to do hastily.

You, and those whom you serve, will be thankful you did.

By Laura Aiken

GETTING AHEAD OF THE FLAMES

Addressing the unique risks of lithium-ion battery fires

“The future is electric.”

Plug this phrase into a search engine and you’ll find everyone from governments to news agencies and consulting firms deploying this catchy-catch-all; it’s become the green mantra.

With all this electricity now being drawn from lithium-ion battery (LIB) powered devices, bikes, scooters, hoverboards, and road vehicles of all sizes, this mantra is packing a ton of fire power. An LIB fire is no ordinary fire foe, it erupts rapidly and with volatile force, almost like fireworks having a baby with a grenade. Thermal runaway leadsto the fire, an ironic name since the only thing its resulting fire tries very hard to run away from is being extinguished.

The magnitude of the problem lies in emerging data.

As of mid-November 2023, New York’s FDNY reported 239 lithium-ion battery fires that ended in 124 injuries and 17 deaths. These figures were released as the fire department extinguished an e-scooter blaze that killed three members of one family.

On New Year’s Eve, an e-bike burst into flames on a Toronto subway car. One person was treated for injuries. There were 55 LIB fires in the city in 2023, up from 29 in 2022.

In 2022, rechargeable batteries, including lithium-ions, were responsible for five of the 10 fire fatalities in Vancouver. By June 2023, an article in the Vancouver Sun reported Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services was

BELOW The aftermath of a scooter’s thermal runaway in Toronto.

responding to over 50 calls a year related to e-batteries.

In July 2023, Montreal Fire Operations Chief Martin Guilbault told the media that the city saw seven LIB fires in 2021 and 21 in 2022.

The market for energy storage systems (ESS) is burgeoning. About $5 billion was invested in battery energy storage systems in 2022, McKinsey & Company consulting reported, which they analyzed to be a threefold increase from the previous year. McKinsey estimates the global market will reach $120 to $150 billion by 2030. That’s only six years away.

Then there’s production of the batteries themselves. Ontario is poised to become a battery manufacturing hub, with Volkswagen’s first ever North American electric vehicle (EV) battery cell gigafactory set-

ting up shop in St. Thomas. The industrial park area will be the size of about 850 football fields, reports VW. The company plans to roll out 25 new EV models by 2030.

These investments come alongside a Canadian federal government mandate, which, as written states: “Under the new Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, auto manufacturers and importers must meet annual zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) regulated sales targets. The targets begin for the 2026 model year, with a requirement that at least 20 percent of new light-duty vehicles offered for sale in that year be ZEVs. The requirements increase annually to 60 percent by 2030 and 100 percent for 2035.”

While fuel-cell technology driven by hydrogen and technologies like wind and solar are certainly players in the green market, when it comes to transportation and devices, LIBs are the darlings; the talk of the town. It seems less is being written about downsides. The Washington Post published an article in April 2023 that shed some light on this: “To run, EVs require six times the mineral input, by weight, of conventional vehicles, excluding steel and aluminum… These minerals, including cobalt, nickel, lithium and manganese, are finite resources. And mining and processing them can be harmful for workers, their communities and the local environment.”

Canada ranks eighth in the world for lithium mine production and sixth in terms of reserves, reports the federal government. On Feb. 6, Automotive News Canada reported that Canada has overtaken China “as the country with the highest potential to build a secure and sustainable battery supply chain,” based on the findings of the research firm Bloomberg NEF.

As novel as the excitement around them seems, LIBs are nothing new — just far more ubiquitous. Lithium “lithion/lithina” was discovered in Stockholm circa 1817 by Johan August Arfvedson. The first commercial rechargeable LIB was introduced in 1991 by Sony after nearly 20 years of false commercial starts and developments by multiple scientists.

LIBS are a beneficial and generally safe technology, but no one wants to encounter one in thermal runaway.

THERMAL RUNAWAY EXPLAINED

When an LIB fire occurs, thermal runaway is the event fire departments have the showdown with. Thermal runaway describes the quick uncontrolled release of heat energy from a battery cell. More heat happens than the battery can release. A single cell of thermal runaway can become a chain reaction in neighbouring

cells, which can cause a fire or explosion. Thermal runaway can start due to an internal short circuit, or from thermal, mechanical or electrical abuse, states the NFPA. Signs of thermal runaway are bulging batteries and rising temperature (a thermal imager can be used to detect this). Identifying signs of failure helps stop thermal runaway before it kabooms. Once

it’s in thermal runaway, the battery either needs to burn until it runs out of fuel, or the heat needs to be removed from the reaction via a cooling agent until the chemical reaction ceases.

THE HUMAN FACTOR AND FIRE

LIBs are not generally prone to failing on their own, but they are sensitive to various abuses. Human behaviour is at fault in the vast majority of LIB fires involving hand-held devices or micro-mobility vehicles like scooters and e-bikes. Incompatible parts, like chargers not designed for that particular battery, don’t necessarily know when to stop charging. LIBs need to dissipate heat, otherwise they build heat until thermal runaway ensues. Tinkering with e-wheels via additional battery packs or modified wiring to juice up the power or increase the mileage is a recipe for disaster, as is rough handling of a product that causes damage to the cells. Also, some inexpensive e-bikes, scooters or hoverboards may not be manufactured to appropriate standards, certainly exacerbating any additional risk added by the human touch. Issues like this are far fewer in the highly regulated environment of EVs, which are difficult to modify. People are not likely to try to take the “governor” off their Tesla, so to speak. That being said, there are cases where people have tried to shortcut an expense with a homemade power pack to charge their Tesla. Not a good plan.

For people in urban environments, micro-mobility gets you free and far for a reasonable price point. Their growing popularity is understandable. Storing them in suites is dangerous (leaving them outside is a recipe for theft), and a popular place to store them is handily by the door, effectively blocking egress.

The public needs to change their risk perceptions, but there are challenges to this.

“Proponents of green energy are not necessarily wanting to hear this,” said Toronto Fire Services (TFS) Chief Matt Pegg. “It seems like bad news. Education is more challenging if people don’t want to hear the message.”

But everyone needs to understand why they should not buy aftermarket parts, why UL certification is important, and why buying from credible manufacturers and following their guidelines is key to heavily mitigating risk. People need to calibrate to reality because LIB fires are rapid and aggressive. Being in close proximity does not bode well for your survival. Many agencies supporting first responders have diligently worked to assemble the resources to facilitate this very key public education piece.

TFS Deputy Chief Larry Cocco said the International Association of Fire Chiefs has current information on its website and work is underway on a toolkit that will be shared once complete. While educating human behaviour to change is difficult, there are good resources to be found now. The Fire Safety Research Institute has several good videos demonstrating LIB fires in action, and a seven-minute PSA that TFS shares, said Cocco. The NFPA has a full suite of resources to help fire departments educate their communities (please see the NFPA Impact column on page 20 for a full run-down and where to find them).

Laura King, the NFPA’s regional director for Canada, pointed out that if something is on the market, people think it’s safe, that someone is looking out for them. What is required is a bit of street smarts about

basic LIB safety. Pub ed will require, as always, community specific strategies. For example, food delivery workers are likely candidates for modifying their e-bikes to get a longer charge out of them, said King, so disseminating information to restaurants that interact with these people is a good strategy.

CHALLENGES FOR FIRE SERVICES

Battery chemistries are advancing quickly. There are five leading battery chemistries at this point, said Cocco. An ESS carries unique considerations. For example, if one of the batteries fails, it produces a highly volatile gas. Some are designed to auto-ignite in the event of failure, explained Cocco, meaning that if the gas sensor goes off it will essentially self-destruct so it doesn’t spread to the other systems. Many Canadian fire services are not currently made aware of when an ESS is installed, and their installation intersects with other provincial legislation such as electrical and building codes. A normal garage fire becomes a new ballgame if an EV is parked inside, or they may be electric snowblowers or other LIB powered tools in the garage. An LIB may not be the cause of the fire, but if it exposed to the fire, it changes the playbook. Then, there’s the issue of reignition. TFS had an LIB incident involving a transport load of scooter batteries. The fire re-started three days later, and then again 87 days later. If there is heat left in the battery, and it can be difficult to get to all the tightly packed cells, heat can build and and cause reignition, said King. Pegg noted that realistically, TFS is one of the few departments in Canada that has the resources to do a

ABOVE An example of battery modification courtesy of TFS.

multi-day fire watch, but what else is one to do? That being said, when TFS does have to deploy resources in this manner, Pegg sees a direct correlation to a degradation in response time performance in the city.

Fire departments need be aware of the balance of probabilities for a secondary event, pre-plan, have a disposal plan including appropriate vessels and instructions for the owner.

“We can’t assume the responsibility, but we can mitigate the hazard,” said Cocco.

NFPA, CODES, TESTING AND PUTTING OUT THE FIRE

There’s a big lag in terms of understanding the dangers of energy storage systems and the codes and standards reflecting them. This isn’t a human race first. Look at the introduction of gasoline and combustible engines. The automobile was invented in 1892. By 1920s America, millions of gasoline fueled cars were on the road, but building codes didn’t really address mass storage of gasoline until the 1980s, said Cocco.

“Tragedy gives us a snapshot of the risk. But codes and standards have always been slow to keep up.”

The NFPA standard 855 is the standard for the installation of energy storage systems, and it’s designed for a system that doesn’t move, said King. The standard would apply if the standard were in the codes, but it’s not (though it will be in the American codes soon).

“The NFPA is working with the UL and some other groups on ESS

safety and the potential to develop a Canadian version of the NFPA 855 standard that we hope will then be referenced in the Canadian codes,” said King.

Now, for the million-dollar question…what’s the best way to put out the fire? NFPA and other organizations have done full-scale testing with LIBs and EVs; these tests indicate water to be the best method.

“Scientific evidence and data point toward water as the preferred extinguishing agent. People used to think it was foam. Foam will smother the fire, but it won’t cool the battery. When you have a lithium-ion fire situation, you need to cool the battery to prevent that continued thermal runaway, so that’s why water is the extinguishing agent of choice and not foam,” said King.

The NFPA is neutral on the use of blankets because it hasn’t done fullscale testing, said King. She’s not sure expensive testing on blankets will be conducted, but has seen fire departments successfully use blankets to smother fires and prevent spread.

Rural areas that respond to ESS fires need to know where they are going to get the necessary amount of water from, because it’s a lot more than the average bear of a fire. Consider if you have the capacity for tanker shuttles or mutual aid if you are going to be responding to these fires. Fire departments will need to see what works for them. New technology brings new solutions, but those solutions need to be tested.

“We also know from testing firefighters should be wearing PPE and

SCBA through all the overhaul during this type of fire. A lot of gases come out of a lithium-ion battery, including carbon monoxide. We need to see evidence and the data because obviously we don’t want to put firefighters or any other responder at risk,” said King.

The NFPA is also reviewing EV firefighter techniques, safe battery transport and studying the environmental impacts of LIB fire run-off.

AUTO EXTRICATION AND ZEVS

Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) are defined as battery-operated electric, fuel-cell operated electric and plug-in hybrids, and Statistics Canada data shows Canadians are getting hotter to trot for them: “In the third quarter, new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) made up 12.1% of all new motor vehicles registered. This represents an increase from the third quarter of 2022, when ZEVs were 8.7% of all motor vehicle registrations.” British Columbia, followed by Quebec and Ontario are leading adoption.

Jason Defosse, rescue specialist and FDIC lead instructor with MESCode 4 Fire & Rescue, has really immersed himself in the details of ZEVs, more commonly referred to as EVs, and the new guidance needed for the LIBs that power them.

“What we need to do is train,” he said. “At the awareness and operations level.”

From his perspective, an EV is no more likely to catch fire than its internal combustion counterpart. The protocols for response are different.

When you arrive at an EV or hybrid incident, remember sight, smell and sound, he said. Here’s his advice: Approach on a 45-degree angle or from the side, never front or rear as you need to assume it’s live. Confirm the type of vehicle — say, a Tesla. Initiate “aggressive wheel chocking.” Drop a block on the back wheel, drop one in the front. Continue “reading the wreck” to see what you are up against, then do more wheel chocking, blocking and the extrication assignment.

Sound is critical. Buzzing, cracking, and popping sounds suggest damage to the battery and a possible thermal event. Notice the smell as you approach.

“If you smell a sweet electric odour, otherwise recognized as a cherry bubble gum smell, stop immediately, go back to the rig and pack up. Come back with hose streams and tools to lift the car if needed but be prepared because this thing is off-gassing. Come back with fire suppression, a thermal imaging camera and a four gas meter. These things identify things we cannot. If there are still people trapped, you don’t run away, you’ve got to get water going. Fire fighting is inherently dangerous. This can be a dangerous assignment, and while extremely low, the potential is there.”

If there is off-gassing, firefighters have SCBAs, but police and paramedics do not so they should be moving upwind and away from that smell.

Defosse partnered on an app with the Energy Security Agency in the U.S., which in conjunction with another group, ESRG, he said is single biggest large-scale LIB testing facility. Testing is critical, not only to glean accurate data, but because not all LIBs are the same. Tesla has gone through over a 100 different battery changes in the last decade, he said.

When it comes to the extrication, you need to develop your rescue plan because aluminum bodies are different, as are shutdown procedures and you need to use manufacturer guidelines to know what the first responder cut loops are, all of which is evolving information. The major lessons to note for extrication are: no blind cutting and never push off the floors with rams or spreaders because of the location of that high voltage battery pack. In general, refrain from cutting or interacting with any of the high voltage components.

He identified two important resources for fire departments. One is Call 2 Recycle. They have packaging materials, protocol and shipment rules for the aftermath of an LIB incident, which is essentially a hazmat scene. Additionally, the Energy Security Agency offers North Americawide, 24-hours a day risk assessment and on-scene guidance at no cost via 1-855-ESA-SAFE (372-7233). You’ll get an expert on the other end of the line that will have access to the vehicle’s emergency response guides and assist with the fire fighting operation. They also offer training for various agencies and host events all over North America.

LIBs are an ever-evolving issue on the education, inspection and response strategy front. Getting the information out, catching codes and standards up to the current day, and enforcement will all be players in continuing to address the potential dangers. The market is growing very fast, which means you will only see more and more LIB-powered everything.

“I believe this is or will very quickly become the single biggest public fire safety risk of our current time and our generation,” said Pegg.

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BACK TO BASICS

By Mark van der Feyst

Hose packs: Part 3

For the last two issues in 2023, we began looking at the three different hose loads that are commonly used for any standpipe operations – giving them the name of high-rise or standpipe hose packs. If you recall back to our first article, we detailed the reason for calling them hose packs instead and listed the three types that are available. We have come to the third part of our series with a look at the Chicago load.

THE CHIGACO LOAD

The Chicago load is not a popular or very well-known hose load in the fire service. In fact, it is a very well-kept secret.

This load is obviously used by the Chicago Fire Department and has been proven to be very effective for their operations. Just like the Denver and New York loads, there are three hose sections that are arranged and bundled separately, using two hose straps to secure it.

In photo 1, the hose is laid out in a “U” shape fashion after taking one of the coupled ends and walking it up to the other coupled end. It does not matter which coupling you grab as long as both couplings are sitting side by side as in the photo.

The next step is seen in photo 2. This is where the middle of the hose is walked up to the two couplings right down the middle of the two hose sections. The hose will end up sub-divided into two “U” sections. The hose orientation is important here with respect to the twisting of the hose. Notice in photo 2 that the hose is not twisted on its standing edge. If the hose is twisted, then this can be fixed easily at the end when we get to the photo 5 stage of the process.

Photo 1

The hose is laid out in a “U” shape fashion after taking one of the coupled ends and walking it up to the other coupled end.

Photo 2

If the hose is twisted, then this can be fixed easily at the end of the process.

Photo 3

Take the middle of the one sub-divided “U” section and walk it right down the middle of the one coupling and the one loop sitting beside the coupling.

Photo 4

The hose load will be sitting loosely with four loops at the top end opposite the couplings and there will be three loops sitting in between the two couplings.

Mark van der Feyst is an international instructor and firefighter with FGFD. He is the lead author of Fire Engineering’s Residential Fire Rescue & Tactical Firefighter books. He can be reached at Mark@FireStarTraining.com.

In photo 3, we are then taking the middle of the one sub-divided “U” section and walking it right down the middle of the one coupling and the one loop sitting beside the coupling. When completed, you will have one coupling and two loops sitting beside the coupling.

In photo 4, the same steps are repeated as detailed for photo 3. When completed, the hose load will be sitting loosely with four loops at the top end opposite the couplings and there will be three loops sitting in between the two couplings.

Once the hose has been folded into the proper folds as in photo 4, the load can be finished by the one firefighter. All they need to do is to kneel in the middle of the hose load on the side of the hose, reach out and gather the hose sections and pull them toward their knees.

As pictured in photo 5, the folds of the hose are now packed tight to each other and are all orientated in the same direction to be stacked flat on its edge. If there is a twist in the hose, the firefighter needs to chase this twist down by untwisting the hose and follow that same untwisting back to the one coupling.

At this point, the hose load can be strapped with two hose straps at each end of the load as shown in photo 7. This will be repeated two more times to create three sections in total with one of the sections having the nozzle attached to it.

PUTTING THE HOSE LOAD INTO USE

When these hose sections are brought into a building or are going to be used for another purpose, they are placed on the ground and laid side by side as shown in photo 7. The

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By Mark van der Feyst

LEFT TO RIGHT

Photo 5 The folds of the hose are now packed tight to each other and are all orientated in the same direction to be stacked flat on its edge.

Photo 6 The two inside loops at the top end opposite the couplings can be pulled to deploy the hose.

Photo 7 The hose load can be strapped with two hose straps at each end of the load.

Photo 8 This hose load can be accomplished by one firefighter, which is an advantage when needing to create three sections.

three sections will be connected to each other with the couplings from each bundle. If there is a bundle that has the same sex coupling facing each other, the hose bundle can easily be flipped over so that the opposite coupling is now facing the right coupling for threading. This flipping of the hose bundle will not change

the process for deploying the load but will allow for a quick correction.

In photos 6 and 8, you will see the main deployment loops of each hose section or bundle. The firefighter will grab the two inside loops at the top end opposite the couplings and pull them, deploying the hose. The two outside loops are the “ears” of the

load and are left alone.

As described with this hose load, it can be accomplished by one firefighter which is an advantage when needing to create three sections.

One of the other advantages of the Chicago load is that it can be carried over the shoulder easily by flopping half of the load on each side. It can also be carried over the back of a SCBA cylinder providing for handsfree operation.

Another advantage is that it can be folded in half for storage in a truck compartment or placed on the floor of an elevator to stand on for space limitations.

One of the disadvantages is the length of the hose load. The Chicago is longer than the Denver or New York loads when it comes to storing in a compartment. If the hose load cannot be folded in half for storage, it must be laid flat requiring more room. If the hose load can be folded, it can be stored like the Denver load flopped over a round object vertically in a compartment.

The Chicago load provides a simplistic approach to packaging and deployment for hose packs needed for other operations besides pre-connected hose lines.

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NFPA IMPACT

By Laura King, NFPA Regional Director, Canada

The lithium-ion conundrum

Not a day goes by without an inquiry about lithium-ion batteries.

“How do we cool the battery if we have a limited water supply?”

“What do we do with the battery after it has burned?”

NFPA has mountains of materials to help fire departments plan for and mitigate lithiumion battery incidents, from lesson plans and safety tip sheets to free online courses.

“How do we educate people about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries, especially e-bikes and e-scooters?”

“Are those blankets for EV fires any good?”

NFPA has mountains of materials to help fire departments plan for and mitigate lithium-ion battery incidents, from lesson plans and safety tip sheets to free online courses. Lithium-ion batteries function brilliantly until people muck with them by using off-market chargers or, in the case of food-delivery folks who need extended e-bike battery life, tinkering with the technology.

There are videos all over the internet of fires started by micro-mobility devices plugged into off-brand appliances that can’t regulate or stop the charging process, and of seemingly spontaneous electric vehicle fires in garages.

Consumers who use lithium-ion batteries assume that because the batteries and the devices that require them are on the market, they’re safe.

But as is the case with most technological advancements, rarely does anyone involved in the development of new products ask regulators or responders about the impact of the latest and greatest. Therefore, NFPA,

the technical committees that have developed and are updating the NFPA 855 standard for energy storage systems, and every first-response agency in North America are playing catch up.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs, the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs, and the Ontario and British Columbia offices of the fire marshal / commissioner are working hard to help fire departments deal with the dangers of lithium-ion batteries, as are myriad other safety and response organizations.

For responders, NFPA and the Council of Canadian Fire Marshals and Fire Commissioners offer a free, online, EV training course. Visit nfpa. org and log in or create a profile (top right). Then go to nfpa.org/EV and scroll down to Preview Our EV Safety Training. Enter the code CanEV to access the training for free. Then, in your profile, scroll to Training to see the course.

What about firefighter safety? Watch the webinar from NFPA’s Fire Protection Research Foundation by Ofodike Ezekoye at the University of Texas; there’s no fee, and it’s a great option for a training night. (nfpa.org/videos/firefighter-safety-on-firegrounds-involving-lithium-ion-batteries).

The research foundation has completed studies on EV manufacturing and assembly, electric passenger vehicles, electric delivery vans and buses,

the impact of EVs on infrastructure and facilities, the transport of EVs or alternative fueled vehicles, and exposures. Search “Research Foundation Projects and Reports” at nfpa.org.

Current research foundation projects include fire fighting response tactics, environmental impact of lithium-ion battery fires compared to other fuels, improved PPE cleaning, best practices / exposure assessment (phase 3), and lithium-ion battery gear contamination.

For fire prevention officers and fire- and life-safety officers, NFPA’s lesson plan – Charge into fire safety™, tip sheet (also available in French –search “safety tip sheets in other languages”), and new social media cards can be found on the lithium-ion battery safety page – just plug that phrase into the search box. All these resources are free to download.

There’s also a page dedicated to micro-mobility devices: nfpa.org/ebikes, with tip sheets, videos and FAQs.

And there’s a fact sheet about energy storage systems that’s useful for council, decision makers, planners, building officials, and developers. You can find that on the lithium-ion battery safety page.

Also for builders and designers, the results of two full-scale open-air tests on lithium-ion batteries are on the NFPA website; search “Sprinkler protection guidance for lithium-ion based energy storage systems.”

Although the NFPA 855 standard originally focused on stationary energy storage systems – large installations that support power grids – the updated 2023 edition, and the in-development 2026 edition, are motherlodes of information for fire departments and anyone who encounters lithium-ion batteries. You can find the standard through NFPA LiNK (nfpa.org/LiNK to begin a free two-week trial), or through free access at nfpa.org/855 (scroll down to FREE ACCESS). Annex C, considerations for fire fighting, is a key section.

Laura King is the NFPA’s regional director for Canada. Contact her at lking@nfpa.org.

STOPBAD

By Gord Schreiner, Fire Chief, Comox, B.C

Gord Schreiner is the fire chief in Comox, B.C., and manages the Comox Fire Training Centre. He’s delivered countless presentations in fire stations across Canada and is available to assist yours. Email stopbad355@gmail.com.

TRAINING WITH A DIFFERENCE

In my department, we train, train and train. When it comes to training, I hate excuses.

I have heard them all: it is too cold, it is too wet, we don’t have enough firefighters here to train, we don’t have enough money to train…forget the excuses and start training like lives depend on it, because they do!

Every year we will be training new firefighters while also working to maintain the skills of our existing firefighters. Why don’t we develop programs that serve this balance? Once created, these programs can be easily changed to meet your current needs.

There are several training programs we have developed in Comox over the past few years that have really made the biggest difference.

Response Ready : This program provides recruits with the basic skills to respond safely to incidents as soon as possible. This program involves about 60 hours of practical training (evening and weekends over a few months). During this time, recruits will be asked to read chapters of their textbook and complete various assignments, in addition to viewing videos on our web site or links to other training videos.

Once the requirements are completed, they would be deemed “Response Ready” and allowed to respond to emergencies as “exterior” firefighters. Following this training, they would proceed with completion of NFPA 1001/2.

Rapid Independent Drills (RID) : At the start of the pandemic, we

RID was designed to enhance the delivery speed of some of the “bread and butter” tasks common at emergency scenes.

developed these RIDs to be done individually and with urgency. The objective of this training is learning to complete tasks safely and effectively in a timely manner.

In the early days of the pandemic we did not want our crews training in groups, so individual or small-group drills helped us continue to train. RID was designed to enhance the delivery speed of some of the “bread and butter” tasks common at emergency scenes.

When completed, the firefighter takes a selfie of themselves and submits this with a RID document generated from one of our tablets using QR codes. Record management systems can then be updated to credit the firefighter with this training.

Seconds Count: Seconds Count was designed for trained firefighters to help maintain their skills. The very nature of the fire service is that we must be able to deliver fast – our citizens do not make appointments for our emergency services. Two or more firefighters can complete these drills inside or out. They can also be completed morning, noon, or night. We developed a couple dozen of these timed drills that we practice on a regular basis. These can be included in our weekly training sessions at the beginning, during or end of the session.

During some of our training sessions we might do a series of Seconds Count drills. These drills are timed and most are less than five minutes in length. A good training session can include sev -

eral of these. I have seen a huge improvement in the efficiency of our well-trained firefighters as they worked towards completing these tasks in a reasonable time while ensuring safety is still their number one priority.

Some of these simple drills including donning your PPE, SCBA, stretching a line, throwing a ladder, setting up a fan, deploying an AED, performing VEIS and so on. These type of drills work great for training records too, as we can check off individual firefighters as they complete the various Seconds Count lesson plans.

These are only three of several training programs we have developed. All are stored on the on-board tablets in each apparatus so crews can quickly access them. This also helps with the continuity between the crews, as they are all working off the same lesson plans.

The key to great training is to be organized and have several plans ready for each training session. These plans should also be tailored to suit the circumstances of the session. A firefighter who is participating in meaningful training is a happier and safer firefighter, and more likely to make a positive difference on your fireground.

Remember: without effective on-going practice, you are just another civilian. Training saves lives — even your own.

For more information or copies of these programs please contact me at stopbad355@gmail.com.

By Nick Halmasy, MACP, Registered Psychotherapist

WHAT IS RESILIENCE?

Defining a prevalent but elusive term in mental health

What is resilience?

At first glance, resilience seems to be a fairly straightforward concept, but I had a strong suspicion otherwise. I asked a few friends, colleagues, and random people on the internet to define it and heard: “The ability to persevere through unknown hardship and to come out stronger.” “Maintaining forward momentum despite resistance and setbacks.” “You bend, but you don’t break.”

When talking with my psychotherapist friends, resilience got a bit more technical, but most answers landed around emotional regulating and coping, in whatever manner, to overcome a situation. Turn to the psychological research, and the nuances of defining resilience become more apparent. Gill Windle, in a 2010 article on resilience, wrote that “the complexities of defining what appears to be the relatively simple concept of resilience are widely recognized.” Phew, it’s not just me.

I came across a conference-based paper by five resiliency research juggernauts resulting in five different formulations of resilience. Resilience has even been defined as, more or less, “an empty word that can be filled with almost any meaning” (van Breda, 2018). In an article on resilience training versus psychoeducation, Jennifer Wild, a psychologist with Oxford, and her colleagues concluded, “Perhaps an operationaised definition of resilience is needed that allows an assessment of better than expected outcomes following stress exposure.” Things are not looking any clearer. Donald Roberston, author and psychotherapist,

BELOW What ingredients create resiliency?

highlights this problem a bit more practically for us. He wrote that when building resilience, “there’s some ambiguity about what ‘adapting’ or ‘recovering’ mean insofar as there’s no set-in-stone definition of wellbeing.” When there is no common goal post to aim towards there is just wellness relative to the person measuring it. This in turn, makes researching it much more complicated and there are problems in the research we do have.

Catherine Panter-Brick identified some of the “deadly sins” as she cites them in resiliency research: being non-specific in defining it, being “empirically light” on researching it, and not being methodologically sound in how we go about the whole process. So, even in the research that we do have we need to be vigilant in our reading of it. George Bonnano adds to this list by identifying that we often use “retroactive” studies that ask those involved to recall their resilience. This is rife with its own issues. Identifying “prospective” studies is more likely to identify larger numbers of resilient individuals. The difficulty with this, of course, is that we would need departments to sign up prior (think recruits) and follow them through the course of their career (let me know if you’d be interested!). Dr. Sadbhb Joyce and colleagues also identified that a problem with the research is it heterogeneity, meaning that so much of the research is on such vastly different projects that it is difficult to pull them all together to get a cohesive story. It’s hard to measure resilience if all the programs are providing different trainings and different intervals and in different ways.

Similarly, we need to understand what type of resilience we mean. This, at least, is the easiest problem for us to solve. You won’t find me talking about children’s performance on math tests; performance following stressors, but about the absence, mitigation, or effective navigation of a







psychiatric concern. This makes grouping all the research together to get a better idea of type more difficult because the studies are too heterogenous, meaning so vastly different in definition, methods, populations, etc., as to halt any meaningful conclusions. We have to, for now, stay in our own lane, but it’s also useful to purposefully narrowing our definition. We aren’t looking, necessarily, at all the ways someone can be resilient (van Breda, 2018).

We all tend to agree that being resilient exists. The conundrum lies in what exactly this thing is. Being able to identify resiliency more clearly would go a long way towards understanding why two people experience the same call and one may struggle while another would not. Unfortunately, the concepts on understanding this that we do have often fall into a camp that’s stigma laden and uninformed most of the time — a “can’t cut it” stance. In a better understanding we may be able to uncover the secret sauce of resilience making it more accessible to all our firefighters. Developing resilient practitioners would also lead to better outcomes.

One of the authors of “Developing Firefighter Resilience”, Dave Gillespie, discusses resilience from a sports psychology lens to develop resilient firefighters through the same principles that develop resilient athletes. There are important components here. Resiliency in high stress situations comes down to understanding and knowing your craft, yourself, and your physiology. The research tends to echo the sentiments that part of resilience can come from performing well under stressful circumstances. Marycatherine McDonald, PhD, writes in “Unbroken” that a portion of moral injury (associated with trauma) is feelings of incompetence. There is something to this automaticity of our role that can lead us to being a bit more rubber rather than glue.

A quick aside about what resilience isn’t seems also important here. Resilience (like any mental/ physical health approach) does not mean that you will get to walk through life free from strife and sickness. No amount of resilient training is going to make hard times not hard. What resilience would be able to do, in the ways that we have conceptualized it, is to not make those moments worse. Indeed, resilience is also about enabling you to walk away from these situations without having made the problem bigger prior to you leaving. And this is a huge piece to try and understand. Sometimes, we find ourselves

searching for the answer that will make things go away. Resilience is more along the lines of learning to live with this newly discovered cognitive roommate, while setting up effective barriers and boundaries to successful navigate when they are home and annoying us.

WHAT THE CURRENT RESEARCH SAYS

Current research does seem to land on some key resilience-trait properties. Taking some liberties, but in keeping with the wider literature, resilience, then, would be something like, the ability to continue to move, despite adversities, and while adhering to one’s values. That definition is specific enough to potentially measure while diverse enough to accommodate the obvious subjectivity of it all. Now that we know what it is (kind of)… where can I buy some?

Since I started After The Call, a resource centre for first responders, one of the biggest pieces of work was educational presentations and trainings. This was for entire departments as well as peer-teams and at conferences. The aim was that developing awareness and literacy around mental health could go a long way to preventing that what could be prevented and healing from that which could not. Not resilience in the specific sense, but resilience-adjacent in the common-sense of ‘knowledge is power.’ But swoop back in Oxford psychologist Wild: “We found no evidence of the effectiveness of pre-employment screening or psychoeducation offered as a standalone package, and little evidence for interventions aimed to improve wellbeing and resilience to stress…” Great.

The stigma of “can’t cut it” and not “strong enough still exist and are uniformed misnomers that cloud understanding resiliency.

This is an exceptionally important point considering that fire departments have PTSD prevention plans that include psychoeducation and training. Specifically, there have been many programs of “resilience” training, but by and large those don’t seem to plant the seed of resilience for us as much as we would have hoped.

Locally, we have some initial research that would suggest programs such as the Road to Mental Readiness, largely disseminated for the first responders, bring “no statistically significant changes in symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, posttraumatic stress, and alcohol use, at any follow-up time point, following the training intervention,” as Nicholas Carleton and his colleagues concluded – it’s not a treatment. Some small changes were seen in other measures that suggest these programs could be good for stigma fighting provided refreshers were given. The takeaway here is that psychoeducation alone is not resilience training (Wild et al., 2020). There is also still room for inviting someome like me into the department to talk about mental health, but we can no longer mistake it for anything other than basic information that will not go on to provide any real actionable help. It’s not a treatment. Can resiliency even be taught? You would think with all the hubbub above that the answer would be no. That is a bit hasty. Wild and colleagues do go on to identify that there may still be some areas for which resilience training is fruitful and beneficial. The problem with resilience training is that, by and large, it hasn’t focused on modifiable factors. What are things we can actually change? For example, if you come to see me for therapy, a modifiable factor for us could be your level of anxiety and it could be changed through different processes and tools that you learn to use and adopt (modifying your cognitive, behavioural, and emotional experiences). Psychoeducation feels a bit like that, but as has been argued elsewhere, being aware doesn’t make you literate. Sadbhb and her colleagues found that trainings that she has researched that focus on the cognitive behavioural

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and mindfulness approaches together “appear” to make increases in resilience. The research would suggest that we need to offer a wider suite of tools. Mindfulness training is a great skill, but it is only one single skill. One tool is helpful, but a disaster if we rely only on it. Imagine coming to all MVC scenes with only a single tool every time. Even if 95 percent of the time they get us to the goal post, that five per cent is going to ache. It’s about having an adaptable and flexible skill set to employ the right tool for the right problem. Trainings haven’t seemed to focus on this too well. To be fair, and the research echoes this, there isn’t yet a ton of research studying the different trainings out there. Some preliminary research does suggest that some programs could provide that. One being utilizing the Unified Protocol (a specialized, transdiagnostic tool used to treatment anxiety and mood disorders, Wild et al., 2020). This is largely because the program itself is as much a training and therapeutic tool as it is for developing new cognitive skills. When using the program with clients and patients, I often tell them to look at this as a “cognitive lifestyle change.” That lifestyle change is based on modifiable factors that, when addressed, makes one better able and suited to adapt and take head-on the psychological trials they will face. I don’t presuppose that this is the only program suited to providing that, but it is one that arises in the research as a potential candidate. The number of appropriate coping strategies become almost infinity when we recognize that the only person able to gauge their effectiveness is the person using them. Developing a resilient firefighter through programming requires developing a large set of diverse skills that can be applied in many situations.

ADDRESSING RESILIENT VERSUS NOT RESILIENT

A hard and sensitive aspect of all this is who gets the star of resilience, and who doesn’t? This, inherently, doesn’t feel good. Who is resilient is the wrong question. It’s why were they resilient? And even more specifically, why now, in this moment. It’s unhelpful, unwise, and misinformed to suggest

that when one of two people at the same call go on to struggle that they are less resilient than their colleague. This is simply a misnomer that continues to push the insidious stigma of “not strong enough”. In our effort to make sense of what is wildly difficult to make sense of, we’ve chosen the easy understanding. We work to “otherize” our colleagues. We question their leaves, or the amount of WSIB claims, or the number of times they need to head home. Yet, these are all viable options under the realm of ways to cope.

Organizationally, these options are difficult as they involve moving other parts around (some of those parts being people and they can be hard to find quickly in a pinch at times). But this would be to miss the point and to participate in the organizational contributions of the stress of the job. Research suggests that organizations that recognize, understand, and support in meaningful ways are also methods to decrease those leaves in the first place. And whether it’s a chicken or egg scenario, it’s never too late to adopt new ways of managing these pieces. Roberston poses a reasonable question: “Who is more resilient: someone who experiences no stress, no unpleasant experiences such as worry and anxiety, or someone who does feel stress but willingly accepts it and acts according to their values anyway?”

Clean, Green, Reliable Power for Optimal Performance.

Ultimately, resilience will require one thing over everything else: Acceptance that we could be impacted. Resilience, as you have just read, is not the ability to withstand all assaults on our minds – that’s foolish to think in the long-term. Instead, its about how one manages that assault.

So, where do we stand on this resilience thing? Well, it’s a difficult to define a state of being that encapsulates something like moving forward in the face of adversity while maintaining your values. It will be a Swiss army knife of strategies and skills that will come together in a moment of need to help manage, moderate, mediate and potentially ameliorate the stressor at hand. Like most things, there is work to do to ensure that we develop the requisite skills for ourselves – and even better when the organization we’re with understands and values this enough to support you to develop them.

Nick Halmasy is a registered psychotherapist who spent a decade in the fire service. He is the founder of After the Call, an organization that provides first responders with mental health information. Contact him at nhalmasy@afterthecall.org.

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1200 DEGREES ONTARIO

402 Harmony Road

Ayr ON N0B 1E0

Tel: 800-254-2049

Toll free: 800-254-2049

Company Email: jclimie@1200-degrees.com Web: 1200degrees.com

Already a key player in Ontario, 1200 Degrees Ontario now offers the complete package: trucks, parts & service and equipment.

We have been servicing the Ontario Emergency Service Industry since 1993, and are dedicated to providing you the best fire fighting vehicles and equipment available in the fire service industry. Our service technicians undergo continuous training, testing and EVT certification to ensure that the latest technologies and innovations are applied.

1200 Degrees employees work as a team and take pride in assisting our customers in any way possible.

A.J. STONE COMPANY LTD.

62 Bradwick Dr. Vaughan ON L4K 1K8

Tel: 416-785-3752

Toll free: 800-205-3473

Fax: 416-781-2827

Company Email: order@ajstone.com Web: www.ajstone.com

A.J. Stone has proudly served the needs of the First Responder Services of Ontario since 1972 by featuring quality products, knowledgeable sales team, and training support.

A.J. Stone supplies equipment from MSA, Task Force Tips, LION Protects, Paratech Rescue, FireBull, Enforcer, Genesis Rescue Systems, Streamlight, Innotex Bunker Gear, ProTech Gloves, Safe-T-System, CET and much more!

We service what we sell!

A.S.

ROACH FIRE SERVICES LTD

26-53106 Range Road 14 Parkland county AB T7Y 2T3

Tel: 780-719-9584

Company Email: albert@asroachfire.com Web: www.asroachfire.com

Manufacturer of the Elevated Sprinkler Mount designed for fast set up and non intrusive property protection. Manufacturer of sprinkler trailers (SPU) built like a fire engine with roll up doors and pull out trays.

AIR TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CANADA INC.

251 Queen St. S., Ste. 512 Mississauga ON L5M 1L7

Tel: 905-826-6682

Toll free: 866-735-1480

Fax: 866-511-6904

Company Email: info@airmation.ca Web: www.airmation.ca

Air Technology Solutions is dedicated to our Clients, offering updated, timely, full service Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) solutions. Air quality concerns are mitigated using a unique combination of professional indoor air quality assessment coupled with solutions. Off the shelf or customized site specific air cleaning equipment is available to resolve IAQ issues. Our technical experts review client requirements and budgetary availability. The finest appropriate air cleaning systems are provided. Air Technology Solutions is a leader in Diesel Exhaust Remediation and is the ONLY environmental tested and proven filtration system to exceed standards: NFPA, NIOSH, OSHA and ASHRAE. Building and facility managers, business owners, contractors, architects, and engineers have been working with Air Technology Solutions since 1986 to resolve IAQ needs. Employee and personnel safety and health are key issues. Breathing safe air in the workplace is of utmost importance. We provide global customized solutions to control contaminants, pollutants and odours in your facility. We look forward to servicing your requirements.

AIR VACUUM CORPORATION

PO Box 517

Dover NH 03821

Tel: 603-743-4332

Toll free: 800-540-7264

Fax: 603-743-3111

Company Email: sales@airvacuumcorporation.com

Web: www.airvac911.com

Breathe Clean Air with AIRVAC 911®

The AIRVAC 911® Engine Exhaust Removal System provides 24/7 protection by controlling the spread of hazardous contaminants in your station so that everyone can breathe clean air. Protect 100% of the apparatus bay area by constantly monitoring and automatically removing diesel exhaust and particulate matter from your station without interfering with daily operations or affecting emergency response time. AIRVAC 911 is fully automatic. At the heart of our four-stage filtration system Is the High-Efficiency “HEPA MAX 3000” (MERV 16) filter that has the ability to remove particles 0.31.0 microns in size at an efficiency of greater than 95%. Our system also removes off-gassing and engine exhaust that re-enters the building.

• No hoses, vehicle attachments or tail pipe connections

• No building modifications, ducting or external exhaust fans

• Address Hot Zones within your station

• Remove off-gassing of turnout gear, hoses and parked vehicles

• Counter off-gassing of secondary pollutants

• Remove engine exhaust that re-enters the building

• Flexibility to move vehicles from bay-to-bay Half the cost of hose systems

Energy efficient LEED/Green design

NFPA 1500 / OSHA / GSA Compliant

Made in the USA

For a free quote: www.airvac911.com sales@airvacuumcorporation.com 800-540-7264

343 Venture Blvd.

Wooster OH 44691

Tel: 330-264-5678

Company Email: akroncare@idexcorp.com

Web: www.akronbrass.com

Akron Brass Company is a leading global manufacturer of high performance firefighting products engineered and tested for superior fire suppression and emergency response. Products include nozzles, monitors, valves, scene and vehicle lighting, vehicle electronics, reels, hand tools, engineered solutions, and other firefighting equipment. Leading the industry for over 100 years!

AKRON BRASS COMPANY

2024 BUYERS GUIDE

BEARSPAW PROTECTAPUMP - SEPARATORS

927A Goldstream Ave

Victoria British Columbia V9B 2Y2

Tel: 778-404-7385

Company Email: info@protectapump.com Web: protectapump.com

Fire pumps are the Heart of firefighting. Their protection is paramount.

Especially when drafting in shallow natural sources: Creeks — Lakes — Wetlands — Rivers — Oceans

You can eliminate the destructive risks of sucking up: Pebbles — Gravel — Weeds — Sand

When using the world’s only water / debris Separator aka “The Ultimate Portable Dry Hydrant”. Record-low water levels are now common for rural & wildfire drafting sources.

Separators provide:

• Flexibility of drafting locations during emergencies – even sources with weeds & debris – in less than 12” / 30 cm of water depth.

• Improved community protection with reliable & consistent flow rates, without the time-wasting “babysitting”, flotation, or suspension normally required with strainers.

• Relief from downtime and repair costs for fire trucks and portable pumps.

120-day money back guarantee — Made in Canada — 2-year warranty

See videos & testimonials by fire chiefs using BearsPaw Separators.

Locate a retailer near you. Visit ProtectaPump.com

CANADIAN SAFETY EQUIPMENT INC.

#3 – 2865 Argentia Rd.

Mississauga ON L5N 8G6

Tel: 905-826-2740

Toll free: 800-265-0182

Fax: 905-272-1866

Company Email: info@cdnsafety.com Web: www.cdnsafety.com

We supply Industrial and Fire SCBA’s, SCBA Decon Washer, Thermal Cameras, CAF Systems, Fall Protection, Bunker Gear, Fire and Rescue and Ballistic helmets, Fire Hose, Communications Equipment, Nozzles, Fittings, Hazmat Suits, Ventilation Fans, Gas Detectors, Confined Space Rescue Equipment, Water and Ice Rescue equipment, Industrial and Municipal Safety and Lone Worker Protection systems.

CSE INCENDIE ET SÉCURITÉ INC.

CARL THIBAULT FIRE TRUCKS INC.

38 Thibault St.

Pierreville QC J0G 1J0

Tel: 450-568-7020

Fax: 450-568-3049

Company Email: mthibault@thibaultfiretrucks.com Web: www.thibaultfiretrucks.com

We are a Canadian based company and we manufacture a full line of fire apparatus which includes aerial ladders, pumpers, tankers, rescue units and vacuum tankers. We provide parts and other related products.

COINAMATIC COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY

301 Matheson Blvd West

Mississauga ON L5R 3G3

Tel: 877-755-5302

Toll free: 877-755-5302

Company Email: info@coinamatic.com Web: www.coinamatic.com

Coinamatic Commercial Laundry provides a complete range of commercial laundry equipment for your on premise laundry operations as well as cleaning cabinets for in house laundering of turn out gear. Effective cleaning and decontamination can be an important safety and cost benefit for the department. We have a complete inventory of parts for most makes and models of equipment. Coupled with our qualified service teams, Coinamatic provides end to end solutions that meet your requirements!

COMMERCIAL EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT CO.

591 Chester Road

Delta BC V3M 6G7

Tel: 877-443-2626

Toll free: 800-665-6126

Company Email: info@comemerg.ca

Web: www.comemerg.ca

Commercial Emergency Equipment is Canada’s expert supplier of emergency equipment. Commercial is the authorized dealer for Pierce, BME Fire Trucks, Maximetal, and Oshkosh Airport Products apparatus from Ontario to BC including all Canadian Territories. With a 75-year history, 350+ employees across Canada in six main branches, and 250,000+ sq. ft. of combined production and service space, Commercial has an unmatched parts, service, training, testing, and support network for emergency apparatus. Commercial provides its customers access to industry-leading service and support including mobile EVT’s, pump testing, annual inspections and maintenance, a significant stock of on-the-shelf parts, 24/7 emergency service and more. We warehouse an extensive inventory of OEM and aftermarket parts, tools, and equipment ensuring quick delivery and reduced downtime to our customers.

5651 Chemin St-Francois

St. Laurent QC H4S 1W6

Tel: 514-737-2280

Toll free: 866-737-2280

Fax: 514-737-2751

Company Email: info@cseis.com

Web: www.cseis.com

We supply Industrial and Fire, SCBA’S, SCBA Decon Washers, Gear Extractors and Dryers, Thermal Cameras, CAF Systems, Fall Protection, Bunker Gear, Fire, Rescue and Ballistic Helmets, Fire Hose, Communications Equipment, Nozzles, Fittings, Hazmat Suits, Ventilation Fans, Gas Detectors, Confined Space Rescue Equipment, High Angle Rescue Equipment, Ice and Water rescue equipment, Boots and Gloves. Everything for Fire Fighting, EMS, Law Enforcement, Industrial and Municipal Safety and Lone Worker Protection Systems.

D&R ELECTRONICS CO. LTD.

8820 George Bolton Parkway Bolton ON L7E 2Y4

Tel: 905-951-9997

Toll free: 800-538-7338

Company Email: michael@dandrelectronics.com

Web: www.dandrelectronics.com

D&R Electronics offers emergency vehicle fleets with creative equipment solutions such as complex systems using mobile phones for desktop computing in vehicles to In-Vehicle Laptop/Tablet Mounting Solutions, In-Vehicle Printers and Printer Mounts, Equipment Consoles, Interior/Exterior LED Area/Scene/ Work lighting, SAE Certified/NFPA Compliant LED Emergency Lighting, LED Traffic Director Kits, Basic and Fully Programmable Siren/Light Control Systems, Programmable Power Management Systems, Battery Protection Modules, Equipment Storage Solutions

D&R Electronics is an ISO 9001 Registered company that has been proudly designing and manufacturing emergency vehicle equipment in Canada since 1976.

DARLEY

325 Spring Lake Drive

Itasca IL 60143

Tel: 630-735-3500

Toll free: 800-323-0244

Company Email: jimdarley@darley.com

Web: www.darley.com

You serve others. We serve you.™

Founded in 1908, Darley provides the highest quality pump, technology, and equipment solutions for first responders around the world. With origins in Midwest manufacturing, Darley offers a complete line of unmanned systems, immersive training technology, equipment and pumps. More information is available at www.darley.com.

DRAEGER SAFETY CANADA LTD.

2425 Skymark Ave., Unit 1 Mississauga ON L4W 4Y6

Tel: 905-212-6600

Toll free: 877-372-4371

Fax: 905-212-6602

Company Email: susan.yu@draeger.com

Web: www.draeger.com/en-us_ca/Safety/Firefighting

Contact us at +1 877-372-4371 to learn more about SCBA, live fire training systems, fixed gas and flame detector, mobile gas detector, thermal imaging camera, drugs and alcohol testing equipment and the rest of our portfolio.

Product services and technical training courses are offered at our Mississauga, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta locations throughout the year. Arrange for service of your SCBA and gas detector now.

ESI EQUIPMENT

119 Keystone Dr Montgomeryville PA 18936

Tel: 267-337-1924

DEPENDABLE EMERGENCY VEHICLES

275 Clarence Street

Brampton ON L6W 3R3

Tel: 905-453-3473

Company Email: sales@dependable.ca

Web: www.dependableemergencyvehicles.ca

Dependable Emergency Vehicles builds high-quality, cost-effective emergency vehicles that have been proven in the emergency response industry for over 45 years. Our attention to detail, innovative design, and advanced engineering concepts, allow us to manufacture fire apparatus to your specifications. We produce custom-built bodies on Spartan, Freightliner, Kenworth, and International Chassis’pumpers, walk-in & walk-around rescues, tankers, hazmat, command units, and more!

Our facility includes multiple vehicle bays, sandblasting & paint facilities, indoor pump testing bays, a CNC laser cutting machine, and a full-service repair shop for body work and refurbishment on all makes and models. Our showroom provides a comfortable environment for our customers to get a hands-on experience with our emergency vehicles on display. Dependable is proud to be a part of the REV Family, through being the authorized dealer for KME in Ontario, and the Ferrara line in all of Canada.

Toll free: 800-574-8228

Fax: 267-803-1447

Company Email: esi-marketing@esiequipment.com

Web: www.JYDind.com

Starting with our popular line of Junkyard Dog Rescue Struts 15+ years ago, today Junkyard Dog Industries™ (JYD), a Division of ESI Equipment, Inc., specializes in vehicle stabilization, lifting, rescuer safety, and patient protection products. Accessible nationwide through our large Dealer Network, explore what thousands of responders have already discovered about JYD’s innovative product designs, resourcefulness, materials of a high standards, and dedication to equipping the emergency service community with uncommonly simple, portable, and proven, first-in rescue equipment they need to face today’s challenges with ease and confidence.

FIRE FIGHTING IN CANADA/CANADIAN FIREFIGHTER

PO Box 530, 105 Donly Dr. S. Simcoe ON N3Y 4N5

Tel: 289-221-6605

Fax: 888-404-1129

Company Email: aszpakowski@annexbusinessmedia.com

Web: www.firefightingincanada.com

Canada’s National Fire Publication since 1957.

FIREHALL BOOKSTORE

PO Box 530, 105 Donly Drive S. Simcoe ON N3Y 4N5

Tel: 877-267-3473

Fax: 877-624-1940

Company Email: info@firehallbookstore.com

Web: www.firehallbookstore.com

Firehall Bookstore is your headquarters for training & public education materials, providing resources to the Canadian Fire Service and its professionals including textbooks, DVDs, NFPA standards, and fire safety & prevention educational materials for community outreach. Product lines include: NFPA, IFSTA, Jones & Bartlett, Fire Engineering Books, Action Training Systems, Pearson/Brady, Exam Preps from Dr. Ben Hirst/Performance Training Systems as well as our Firehall Mall section offering gloves, lights, tools and accessories from A.J. Stone and ResQTech.

FIREPRO2 SOFTWARE

2514 - 9th Avenue

Castlegar BC V1N 2Y8

Tel: 250-352-9495

Company Email: sales@fp2.ca

Web: www.fp2.ca

Fight Fires, Not Paperwork. Hundreds of Canadian Fire Departments use FP2 to manage all aspects of their operations.

FP2 is powerful, flexible software with modular design that ensures you only buy what you need.

New features include Web-Based Incident reports, Pre-plans, and Inspection reports; fillable on a tablet or phone while in the field.

Our unique Compensation Reports can even run payroll for you! Contact us for a customized consultation and estimate.

2024 BUYERS GUIDE

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FIREREIN

108 Dairy Avenue, Unit 2

Napanee ON K7R 4B3

Tel: 613-354-9777

Toll free: 844-416-0977

Company Email: info@firerein.com

Web: www.firerein.com

Eco-Gel™ from FireRein is a fire protection hydrogel which efficiently extinguishes Class A and Class B fires. Eco-Gel™ is the only firefighting product certified 100% bio-based by UL Environment and USDA, containing no PFAS or other fluorinated chemicals, making it safe for firefighters, ground water, plants, wildlife, and agricultural crops.

Eco-Gel™ has been Recognized and Verified by UL for Class A and Class B fire suppression. You can use one agent for Class A and Class B fires - one agent for a house fire, structural exposure, brush fire, car fire, or fuel spill. Eco-Gel™ by FireRein is compatible with standard firefighting apparatus and appliances. The viscosity of Eco-Gel™ allows it to “Stick & Stay” on horizontal, vertical and overhead surfaces; continuing to absorb heat and exclude oxygen; using 60% less water = less water damage = reduced salvage operations, and reduced loss. To arrange a demonstration please contact us at info@ firerein.com and/or visit our site at www.firerein.com.

FIRESERVICE MANAGEMENT LTD.

34 Torlake Cres.

Toronto ON M8Z 1B3

Tel: 416-251-3552

Toll free: 888-731-7377

Fax: 416-253-0437

Company Email: brian@fireservicemanagement.com

Web: www.fireservicemanagement.com

We Clean, Test, Customize, Rent and Repair YOUR Gear. Canada’s premier facility dedicated exclusively to providing the best in bunkergear cleaning, decontamination, inspection and repair. We are NFPA 1851 compliant and UL verified for all cleaning and repairs to all materials including moisture barriers. We stock materials and trim for every brand. We’re a certified ISP so we can rebuild damaged components or add pockets and other features to suit your needs. We also offer FireTrack software to help you track your inventory and inspection history. Call us today to see how we can help your department.

FIRESERVICE MANAGEMENT TORONTO

34 Torlake Crescent

Toronto, Ontario, M8Z 1B3

TOLL FREE: 888.731.7377

FIRESERVICE MANAGEMENT CALGARY Unit 22, 2305

52 Avenue S.E., Calgary, AB, T2C 4X7

Phone: 403.287.0155

FORT GARRY FIRE TRUCKS LTD.

RR 2, 53 Bergen Cutoff Rd.

Winnipeg MB R3C 2E6

Tel: 204-594-3473

Toll free: 800-565-3473

Fax: 204-694-3230

Company Email: brian nash, bnash@fgft.ca Web: www.fgft.com

Fort Garry Fire Trucks is Canada’s oldest and largest manufacturer of high-quality fire apparatus offering a complete line of quality pumpers, tankers, rescues, aerial devices, and custom-designed and engineered specialized units. With headquarters based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, our customers emanate from cities, towns, and municipalities throughout Canada, the U.S., and abroad with the harshest weather, climates, and terrain. We boast one of the largest fire apparatus engineering departments amongst our competitors, devoted to the design and production of equipment for the most extreme conditions in the world. We are a Bronto Skylift articulated aerial platform dealer, as well as the exclusive Canadian distributor of Sutphen Corporation aerial ladders and platforms. We truly build “One Tough Truck” and boast over 100 years of quality.

COAST TO COAST SALES AND SERVICE NETWORK: Brian Nash — Vice President – Sales – bnash@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 (ext. 3471) Cell: 204-9817845

Chad Kamminga — Service & Warranty – ckamminga@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 Direct Phone: 204-5943478

REGIONAL SALES REPRESENTATIVES:

Atlantic Canada — Adam Baldwin – abaldwin@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 (ext. 2006); Cell: 902-8889806

Eastern Ontario & Quebec — Peter Somerton – psomerton@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 (ext. 2005); Cell: 613-8595747

Central & Southern Ontario — Chris Pilek – cpilek@ fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 (ext. 3481); Cell: 204-2961915

Manitoba & Saskatchewan — Lance Spencer – lspencer@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 (ext. 3475); Cell: 204-9953895

Alberta — Taylor Young – tyoung@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 (ext. 3466); Cell: 204-2989923

British Columbia — Al Anderson & Bryan Anderson – Fire Power Emergency Apparatus – alan@firepowerplus.com or bryan@firepowerplus.com Phone: 1-250-668-2673 or 1-250-327-1904

Northwest Territories — Rick Penner – rpenner@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473 (ext. 2024); Cell: 204-9815118

Manitoba / Northwestern Ontario / Nunavut Aboriginal / Northern Sales Manager — Ron Lavallee – rlavallee@fgft.ca

Toll-Free: 1-800-565-3473; Cell: 204-791-1167

Yukon — Gil Bradet – Nordique Fire Protection sales@nordiquefire.ca; Phone: 867-334-6603

United States (West) — Lloyd Hamilton – US Fire Equipment, lloyd@usfireequipment.com; Phone: 253863-1301

United States (East) — Philip Vander Molen – Vander Molen Fire Apparatus vmfire@verizon.net; Phone: 315-952-7787

FSI® NORTH AMERICA, A DIVISION OF FIRE SAFETY INTERNATIONAL INC.®

311 Abbe Rd.

Sheffield Lake OH 44054

Tel: 440-949-2400

Fax: 440-949-2900

Company Email: sales@fsinorth.com

Web: www.fsinorth.com

FSI – Serving the Life Safety Market worldwide since 1997

FSI North America® is a Full line supplier of mobile, portable and fixed DAT® series hazmat decon shower systems that include traditional water/solution based decon, electrostatic equipment only decon, and Far UVC 222nm Disinfection.

FSI® TEAS® (Temporary Emergency Air Shelters) shelter systems, offered in among the world’s largest range of size and configurations, serve for Command, Isolation, Drive Thru Flu Shot, Field Hospitals/Alternate Care from 10-1,000 beds, Sleeping, Fire Fighter Rehab, Temporary Morgues, and so on.

FSI® offers a complete range of Isolation Chambers, Rooms, Shelters, and Beds/Chairs systems.

FSI® also offers a complete range of sizes and configurations of Trailer Systems, Rescue Boats, Smoke Ejectors, and EMS supplies such as the FSI Transporter Disposable Backboards, Triage Tape Systems, FSI Medical Field Cots, and Mortuary supplies such as body bags.

HALE PRODUCTS INC.

607 NW 27th Ave.

Ocala FL 34475

Tel: 352-629-5020

Toll free: 800-533-3569

Company Email: halecustomerservice@idexcorp.com Web: www.haleproducts.com

Hale Products, Inc. is a leader in fire suppression pumps, plumbing, valves, CAFS, electronics, gauges and ES-key multiplexing systems. Committed to offering the highest level of service and performance for rescue personnel and truck manufacturers, Hale Products offers brands such as Hale, Class 1, Godiva and SAM. Hale Products is a trusted brand of IDEX Fire & Safety.

HIGHWATER HOSE INC.

12 rue Willard

East Angus QC J0B 1R0

Tel: 888-832-4310

Toll free: 888-832-4310

Fax: 819-832-4340

Company Email: sfraser@mercedestextiles.com

Web: www.highwaterhose.com

Worldwide supplier of a wide range of rubber covered and lightweight, layflat fire and industrial hoses.

A NEW EVOLUTION IN FIRE FIGHTING:

• Deluge™ - Designed for high volume water supply where excellent friction loss, packability and cold temperature flexibility are critical.

• X-Stream® Plus - Designed for aggressive interior attack where excellent abrasion and cut resistance are essential and where color-coded attack lines are crucial.

• Available with iReflect®, WAYOUT® Couplings and iDentify® Coding System

OUR CANADIAN DISTRIBUTORS

• indsales.ca - Labrador

• cumings.ca - NB, NL (MINUS LABRADOR), NS, PE

• larsenal.ca - QC

• municipalequipment.ca - S./S.E. ONT

• transcanadasafety.ca - N./N.C. ONT

• soucisalosafety.com – N./N.C. ONT

• realsafety.ca - MB

• wfrfire.com - BC, AB, SK, YT, NWT

HOLMATRO, INC.

505 McCormick Dr. Glen Burnie MD 21061

Tel: 410-768-9662

Fax: 410-768-4878

Company Email: info-usa@holmatro.com Web: www.holmatro.com

Holmatro is the world’s leading rescue equipment supplier. Our equipment is used by first responders around the world in rescue, special tactics and industrial applications. With two high-tech production plants in North America and Netherlands, we maintain the strictest quality, safety and performance standards in the market.

At Holmatro, we are dedicated to developing innovative tools using leading technology. Our Pentheon Series is the newest line of battery powered equipment that offers users the unrestrained performance, unparalleled speed and ultimate control you have never experienced before. And with battery management made easy, you are always rescue ready! To see our newest products, schedule a demo and request more information, visit holmatro.com. You can count on us, for life.

HURST

JAWS OF LIFE

711 North Post Road

Shelby NC 28150

Tel: 704-487-6961

Company Email: contacthurst@idexcorp.com

Web: www.jawsoflife.com

HURST is the only manufacturer of the Jaws of Life® brand. There is no equal to saving lives. The company’s commitment to research and development and dedication to quality engineering and manufacturing has resulted in a line of innovative products known for outstanding safety, durability and performance. HURST Jaws of Life Inc. is a unit of IDEX Corporation, an applied solutions company. For more information about HURST Jaws of Life, please visit www.jawsoflife.com.

HUSKY PORTABLE CONTAINMENT

7202 SE International Ct. Bartlesville OK 74006

Tel: 918-798-4415

Toll free: 800-260-9950

Fax: 918-333-2004

Company Email: sales@huskyportable.com

Web: www.huskyportable.com

Husky Portable Containment is a manufacturer of firefighting and environmental safety products. We specialize in portable water tanks used in water shuttle operations. We also manufacture salvage covers, hose bed covers, staging mats, strainers, decontamination pools and showers, bladder tanks and spill containment berms.

IDEX FIRE & SAFETY

711 N. Post Rd. Shelby NC 28150

Tel: 800-537-2659

Company Email: contacthurst@idexcorp.com Web: www.idexfiresafety.com

IDEX Fire & Safety brings trusted brands together to deliver innovation in both customer experience and integrated solutions that revolutionize performance and technology to make the fire ground and rescue scene safer to save lives.

INDUSTRIES LAFLEUR INC.

2359 Fiset Blvd

Sorel-Tracy QC J3P 5K2

Tel: 450-743-3918

Fax: 450-743-3906

Company Email: pierrethibault@industrieslafleur.com

Web: www.industrieslafleur.com

Fire rescue trucks (walk-in and non walk-in rescue trucks)

Custom truck bodies

High quality since 1969

ISO 9001

CWB 47.1 & 47.2

KOCHEK CANADA

62 Bradwick Dr., Vaughan ON L4K 1K8

Tel: 416-602-0404

Company Email: sales@kochekcanada.com

Web: www.kochek.com sales@kochekcanada.com

Robin Lewis, Customer Service laura@kochekcanada.com

Laura Kenyon, Regional Director

KROWN CORPORATE/ KROWN RUST CONTROL

35 Magnum Drive

Schomberg ON L0G 1T0

Tel: 416-540-0157

Toll free: 800-267-5744

Fax: 905-939-8710

Company Email: paul.kirkup@krown.com

Web: www.krown.com

Krown Rust Control is a Canadian Company that manufactures penetrate/lubricant corrosion products that are used in the industry to extend the life of vehicles and equipment. Krown has been in business for over 36 years and currently have over 300 locations in North America.

2024 BUYERS GUIDE

www.fireservicedirectory.com

KUSSMAUL ELECTRONICS

170 Cherry Avenue

West Sayville NY 11796

Tel: 631-567-0314

Toll free: 800-346-0857

Fax: 631-567-5826

Company Email: sales@kussmaul.com Web: www.kussmaul.com

Kussmaul Electronics has focused on servicing emergency vehicles, specialty vehicles and vans for over 50 years, always with the commitment to deliver high quality products and the best of the customer service experience. All products are proudly manufactured in the USA. Home of the Auto Eject.

PPE processing solutions.

Our TopClean Series equipment washers use time, temperature and chemo-mechanical action to provide exceptional cleaning for masks, SCBA packs, bottles, helmets, boots and more. They wash every crevice and surface of your PPE to effectively remove dangerous toxins and residues. Years of scientific research went into the design that delivers the same level of clean, every time.

As the leading global manufacturer of cleaning and disinfection technology for nearly 100 years, MEIKO equipment can help reduce firefighters’ exposure to contaminated gear. MEIKO Protect is committed to supporting the health of firefighters – before, during and after a fire. After all, we have an important goal in common: protecting life.

MES - CODE 4 FIRE & RESCUE

23 Craig Street, Unit 6

Branford ON N3R 7H8

Tel: 800-387-2286

Company Email: customercare@mesfire.com

Web: www.mesfire.com

At MES | Code 4 Fire & Rescue, we specialize in providing outstanding extrication equipment sales and service. Our commitment to quality is reflected in our partnership with leading brands like Hurst, Vetter, Rescue 42, and Makita. Our team, consisting of seasoned equipment experts and skilled service technicians, delivers top-notch solutions. Choose MES | Code 4 Fire & Rescue for expertise in extrication equipment sales and service.

Proudly serving as the exclusive dealer of Hurst Jaws of Life since 1984.

MAXIMETAL INC.

9345, 25e Ave

Saint-Georges, QC G6A 1L1

Tel: 418-228-6637

Toll free: 800-510-6337

Fax: 418-228-0493

Company Email: maximetal@maximetal.ca Web: www.maximetal.com

MAXIMETAL, an Oshkosh Corporation company, is a dynamic, innovative company with 40 years’ experience designing and building optimized intervention vehicles for Fire & Emergency as well as Power & Utility customers. OUR MISSION: To support those who keep our families safe and comfortable by designing and building vehicles that stand out for their quality and ingenuity.

MAXIMETAL is represented by Canada’s most robust apparatus dealer network, coast-to-coast. Find your dealer here: www.maximetal.com/find-a-dealer/

MERCEDES TEXTILES LTD.

Montreal QC

Tel: 514-335-4337

Fax: 514-335-9633

Company Email: sales@mercedestextiles.com

Web: www.mercedestextiles.com

For over 45 years, Mercedes Textiles has proudly delivered the most innovative and reliable water delivery systems to the firefighting community. From hoses & couplings to portable pumps, municipal to forestry, we put our technology where your courage is.

FIRE HOSE & COUPLINGS:

• KrakenEXO® – The most advanced UL-listed attack fire hose on the market – weighs less, kinks less, flows more water, beats the heat

• MegaFlo® Breather – Large volume attack & supply hose designed for fastest deployment, easiest recovery & best packability

• Highwater Hose Inc. – We offer of a wide range of rubber-covered lightweight, lay-flat & industrial hoses via our partner brand

• Many hoses available with iReflect® & WAYOUT® couplings and iDentify® Coding System – all manufactured under one roof, customized to your specifications, & NFPA 1961 compliant

• Best warranty on the market: 2-year All Hazards, 10-year manufacturing defects & Lifetime against delamination (2-10-L)

POWERFUL FIRE PUMPS:

We are a leading manufacturer of high pressure, lightweight, portable fire pumps for forestry & municipal fire applications. When you need water, we deliver.

OUR DISTRIBUTORS:

www.indsales.ca – Labrador www.cummings.ca – NB, NL (MINUS LABRADOR), NS, PE www.larsenal.ca – QC www.municipalequipment.ca – S/S.E. ONT www.transcanadasafety.ca – N/N.C. ONT www.soucisalosafety.com – N/N.C. ONT www.realsafety.ca – MB www.wfrfire.com – BC,AB,SK,YT,NWT

METZ FIRE AND RESCUE

3-304 Stone Rd. W. Guelph ON N1G 4W4

Tel: 519-829-9149

Fax: 519-763-6682

Company Email: john@metzfirerescue.com

Web: www.metzfirerescue.com

Canadian dealer for KME Fire Apparatus. Specializing in custom and commercial pumpers, aerial, rescue, tankers and wildland units.

NEDERMAN CANADA

5865 McLaughlin Road Unit 1 Mississauga ON L5R 1B8

Tel: 866-332-2611

Company Email: customerservice.ca@nederman.com Web: www.nederman.com

With 75+ years of experience and well over 100,000 installations, Nederman offers diesel exhaust extraction systems designed specifically for emergency and fire vehicles. From the planning and design stage to installation, commissioning and maintenance support Nederman is your clean air partner.

MEIKO CLEAN SOLUTIONS CANADA, INC.

P.O. Box 21138, Meadowvale Postal Outlet

Mississauga ON L5N 6A2

Tel: 416-817-8518

Toll free: 800-55-MEIKO

Company Email: info@meiko.ca

Web: www.meiko.ca/en_us

PPE contamination is real, and it’s dangerous. At MEIKO Protect, we’re here to help you take fire hall safety and hygiene to the next level. Say goodbye to manual cleaning and invest in MEIKO’s professional

Nederman Magna Systems reliably capture 100% of dangerous diesel exhaust emissions with source capture technology that prevents fumes from traveling throughout the station. Exhaust fumes are removed right at the tailpipe – the most efficient method. Our system design supports ergonomic attachments and quick-release when speed is required for fast station exits. Magna Systems have no coiled hoses or loops and saves space between trucks.

Nederman’s wide variety of product solutions are trusted at thousands of fire stations around the world with high quality construction and exceptional performance that maximized protection.

NFPA

c/o Firehall Bookstore, PO Box 530, 105 Donly Dr. S.

Simcoe ON N3Y 4N5

Tel: 877-267-3473

Fax: 877-624-1940

Company Email: info@firehallbookstore.com

Web: www.firehallbookstore.com

Canadian distributor for NFPA standards, Fire

PIERCE MANUFACTURING INC.

PO Box 2017

Appleton WI 54912-2017

Tel: 920-832-3000

Web: www.piercemfg.com

Pierce Manufacturing: Perform. Like No Other.

RESCUE INTELLITECH INC.

19308 Morton Rd., Suite 108 Katy TX 77449

Tel: 346-464-8050

Company Email: jlittle@rescueintellitech.com

ONTARIO FIRE TRUCK INC.

1397 Old Hwy 99

Dundas ON L9H 5E3

Tel: 905-628-3324

Toll free: 800-474-6698

Company Email: sales@ontariofiretruck.com

Web: ontariofiretruck.com

Ontario Fire Truck Inc. is Ontario’s first choice for Fire Apparatus Service & Sales. We are your first and only call for Fire Apparatus Service, Sales & Testing! We offer you the finest repairs in the industry; we offer a 24 hour, 7 days a week service. All of our service staff is fully licensed Class “A” & “T” both provincially and EVT certified. We are fully insured and have over 30 years experience to provide the best service at your location. Our fully stocked mobile service trucks travel all over Ontario! Why take your truck anywhere, we come to you for both Service and Testing!

Our Sales staff has over 80 years combined experience in the fire industry, we offer only the finest Seagrave Fire Apparatus, and Our Company believes only the best will do! We are the authorized sales and Service Company for Seagrave fire apparatus and equipment companies.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains, long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”

It’s more than a tagline. It’s a lifeline extended to every firefighter served, and the expectation of every person and product at Pierce Manufacturing Inc. Behind the design of every highly customized and engineered pumper, aerial, tanker and rescue unit is a team of professionals whose mission is to build a truck, exactly how it’s ordered. The Pierce team pours everything they have into making sure a fire truck is ready to perform.

Pierce heavily invests in product development and programs to advance firefighter safety, education and performance. Performance-driven design means Pierce is continually evolving to provide firefighters with industry-leading advancements and unmatched innovation. As a subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK), the experienced team has access to an arsenal of cutting-edge technologies and revolutionary processes which have contributed to the development of four custom chassis and best-in-class innovations. Innovations include the Volterra™ platform of electric vehicles, Ascendant Class of Aerials®, Pierce Ultimate Configuration (PUC™), Command Zone™, Idle Reduction Technology, TAK-4® Independent Suspension and Husky™ Foam Systems to name a few.

Commitment to performance extends beyond Pierce’s factory walls and into the communities served. A significant part of the Pierce legacy involves giving back to the community and the fire industry. Partnerships include the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and Volunteer & Combination Officers Section of the IAFC.

See the Pierce difference for yourself at piercemfg.com.

PLYMOVENT

5655 Kennedy Road, Unit 1

Mississauga ON L4Z 3E1

Tel: 800-465-0327

Company Email: david.k@plymovent.com

Web: www.plymovent.com

Since 1975, we have made it our business to ensure clean air in fire stations. We provide high-quality products to protect firefighters and others from exposure to hazardous diesel exhaust. Our source capture and removal systems are the recommended method for controlling exhaust emissions at your station. Breathe clean air at work with Plymovent. #hookupthehose

Web: www.rescueintellitech.com/en-us

RESCUE Intellitech, part of the Sandberg Development Group founded in the 1960s, offers innovative solutions that help remove work-related risks and make the work of firefighters and first responders easier. The RESCUE Intellitech Solo Rescue® cleans SCBAs, helmets, facepieces, boots, gloves, and tools, helping minimize the risk of cancer among firefighters and first responders. Studies show that firefighters run a significantly higher risk of being diagnosed with, and dying from, various forms of cancer than the general U.S. population due to the hazardous chemicals and carcinogenic particles they are exposed to in the line of duty. To reduce this exposure and the resulting risk of cancer, it is essential to thoroughly, safely, and efficiently clean and decontaminate all protective equipment after every use. Cleaning gear in our decon washers means less exposure to cancer-causing PAH particles and a safer work environment for firefighters and first responders.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN PHOENIX

Head Office: 6415 Golden West Ave. Red Deer AB T4P 3X2

Tel: 403-347-7045

Toll free: 800-494-4210

Fax: 403-347-7049

Company Email: info@rockymountainphoenix.com

Web: www.rockymountainphoenix.com

Rocky Mountain Phoenix is your one-stop-shop for top-of-the-line innovative fire truck and fire equipment products and services. We offer a comprehensive line of emergency apparatus and emergency equipment, brands you know and trust; Rosenbauer, MSA, Innotex, CET Fire Pumps, HURST Jaws of Life, Akron Brass, Haix, Key Hose, MSA Cairns, Task Force Tips, Ready Rack, Firecraft and many more.

We service what we sell. We provide 24/7 service for all your emergency fire apparatus and fire equipment through our Shop Service and Mobile Service. Annual fire pump testing, fire truck and fire equipment service and repairs for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, PEI and all of Canada’s Arctic

Visit Us: www.rockymountainphoenix.com

BRANCHES:

103-2285 Queen St. Abbotsford, BC, V2T 6T3

Tel: 604-864-7303 | Fax: 604-864-4938 | Toll Free: 1-888-815-0500

320 Logan Rd. Bridgewater, NS, B4V 3J8

Tel: 902-298-0415 | Toll Free: 1-844-530-4003

2024 BUYERS GUIDE

www.fireservicedirectory.com

ROLLNRACK, LLC

PO Box 328

Mukwonago WI 53149

Tel: 262-565-7833

Fax: 262-363-2034

Company Email: javier@rollnrack.com Web: www.rollnrack.com

THE ROLLNRACK HOSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM is customizable for your firefighters. Streamline hose management with a priority on safety and efficiency. The Power Roller can drain and roll a 100’ length of LDH in 30 seconds. LDH rolls are rocked into or out of unit. Hose rolls are loaded with two firefighters onto stationary rigs with the GO PACK or ROLLNRACK. No one rides on moving rigs when loading. Our Efficiency Package saves you money. The FASTBACK will roll up either hand lines or forestry hose. THE ROLLNRACK SYSTEM improves your firefighter’s lives immediately. MADE IN THE USA.

ROSENBAUER AMERICA

5240 257th Street

Wyoming MN 55092

Tel: 651-462-1000

Company Email: info@rosenbaueramerica.com Web: www.rosenbaueramerica.com

With over 150 years of manufacturing experience, Rosenbauer is the largest manufacturer of fire equipment worldwide. A family-owned business founded in 1866, Rosenbauer has built global partnerships that have helped us build the most innovative and safest firetrucks on the market (Aerials, Pumpers, Tankers, Rescues, ARFF, Wildland, Custom Chassis & the all-electric RTX). Let us partner with you and build your communities next fire apparatus.

Want to learn more! Contact your local Rosenbauer Canadian dealer.

Areo-Feu

5205 J. Armand Bombardier, Longueui, QC J3Z 1G4

Tel: 800-469-1963

City View Specialty Vehicles 1213 Lorimar Dr., Mississauga, ON L5S 1M9 Tel: 416-249-4500

Rocky Mountain Phoenix

6415 Golden West Ave., Red Deere, AB T4P 3X2

Tel: 800-494-4210

#103 – 2285 Queen St., Abbotsford, BC V2T 6J3 888-815-0500

320 Logan Rd., Bridgewater, NS B4V 3J8

Tel: 844-530-4003

SAFEDESIGN APPAREL LTD.

34 Torlake Crescent

Toronto ON M8Z 1B3

Tel: 416-253-9122

Toll free: 877-253-9122

Fax: 416-253-0437

Company Email: sales@safedesign.com Web: www.safedesign.com

Specialists in Firefighters’ Protective Clothing. From Helmets to Bunkergear to Boots and Stationwear, we’ve got you covered from head to toe. Our team is knowledgeable and trained to ensure a proper and professional fit. Our brands: Globe Bunkergear, Hoods and the amazing Globe Boots, Cairns Helmets, Shelby ‘Firewall’ Gloves, PGI Hoods including the BarriAire Particulate Blocking Hood, PGI Wildland clothing, Black Diamond Footwear, Workrite Stationwear and Horace Small Uniforms.

If you would like to hear from a rep in your area

SEATS CANADA INC.

1800 Bonhill Road

Mississauga ON L5T 1C8

Tel: 905-364-5843

Fax: 905-364-7822

Company Email: seatsinfo@seatscanada.com Web: www.seatscanada.com

We offer a complete line of quality Emergency Vehicle seating for driver, officer, crew, wall mount and jump seats. Engineered for comfort and safety, these seats have easy exit flip-up split headrest and are manufactured in a wide variety of covering material.

STEDFAST

230 St. Charles St. S

Granby QC J2G 3Y3

Tel: 450-378-8441

Toll free: 888-673-8441

Fax: 450-378-1558

Company Email: stedfast@stedfast.com

Web: stedfast.com

For over 90 years, Stedfast has been at the forefront of engineering innovative coated and laminated protective barriers. Our revolutionary advancement in moisture barrier technology provides outstanding protection and enhanced durability. Our barriers meet and exceed the NPFA 1971 standard, ensuring the protection you need.

Choose Stedfast and Choose Confidence.

TULMAR SAFETY SYSTEMS INC.

1123 Cameron Street

Hawkesbury ON K6A 2B8

Tel: 613-632-1282

Toll free: 800-268-5687

Fax: 613-632-2030

Company Email: stweed@tulmar.com

Web: www.tulmar.com

Tulmar Safety Systems Inc specializes in the design, manufacturing and maintenance of life-saving solutions for defence, aviation and civil markets. Tulmar pioneered several products used today by emergency response organizations around the world such as tactical life vests, life rafts for rescue in the Arctic, emergency shelters and LifeRamp for water/ice/mud rescue.

Tulmar’s markets include:

• Aerospace, Defense & Civil safety solutions

• Aviation components and Inflight training products and services

• Repair and overhaul

The company was incorporated in 1992 and operates from a modern facility located in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada. Tulmar has a staff of over 100 people working in engineering, production, repair and overhaul, quality assurance and administration.

STARFIELD LION

23 Benton Road

Toronto ON M6M 3G2

Tel: 416-789-4354

Toll free: 800-473-5553

Fax: 416-789-5475

Company Email: starfieldcustomersupport@lionprotects.com

Web: www.starfieldlion.com

Starfield Lion has a legacy and ongoing vision of introducing PPE that is designed to ensure the health, safety and performance of the first responders who serve our communities. Your safety is our top priority. Your needs drive our innovations, we listen and develop the solution.

VALLFIREST NORTH AMERICA

PO Box 150

Fort Collins CO 80522

Tel: 1-855-VFT-9995

Company Email: shawn.bethel@vallfirest.com

Web: www.vallfirest.com

Introducing Vallfirest North America, a pioneering force in frontline wildfire solutions. Our mission is a commitment to safeguarding lives, property, critical infrastructure and ecological balance.

Headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, with product representatives and distribution centers across Canada, our cutting-edge tools and modern equipment solutions support wildland firefighters to address evolving wildfire challenges in North America. It is all part of the global benchmark of the Vallfirest brand. Collaboration is key. We actively engage with wildfire agencies, emergency first responders and private industry experts to constantly refine our approach. This ensures our wildfire innovations remain at the forefront, to support fire responders in protecting communities, critical infrastructure and surrounding ecosystems from wildfires.

Strengthening our commitment and dedication to the North American wildfire effort, is our distribution center in Colorado. Strategically located, it enables rapid, efficient product support and service throughout the United States and Canada. The Vallfirest North America facility enables us to promptly deliver crucial equipment, tools and protective gear during crises to support continuous operations.

Vallfirest North America goes beyond products; we are resilience partners, fortifying communities and natural environments. Join us at the forefront of wildfire technology, where innovation meets reliability. To learn more, please visit: www.vftnorthamerica.com #TheWildfireCompany.

VECTOR SOLUTIONS

10805 Rancho Bernardo Rd, Suite 200 San Diego CA 92127

Tel: 519-820-7751

Toll free: 877-944-6372

Fax: 858-487-8762

Company Email: judy.smith@vectorsolutions.com

Web: www.vectorsolutions.com

Vector Solutions delivers the industry’s most comprehensive suite of software for operational readiness. The platform includes tools for managing training, operations, assets, and staffing. With Vector Solutions you can track Fire and EMS training requirements, compliance tasks, mandatory inspections, controlled substances, employee scheduling, live skills assessments, and much more. Find us online at www. vectorsolutions.com/fire.

WATERAX INC.

6635 Henri-Bourassa W.

Montreal QC H4R 1E1

Tel: 514-637-1818

Toll free: 855-616-1818

Company Email: sales@waterax.com

Web: www.waterax.com

Trusted by wildland firefighters around the world, WATERAX sets the industry standard by developing innovative, portable fire pumps and water-handling equipment designed to withstand demanding applications and rugged environments. With a time-tested legacy of reliability, WATERAX carries on its mission to place powerful, precision engineered pumps into the hands of the men and women who need to move water to protect our forests and most cherished natural resources from the ravages of wildfires!

A Modern Pump for the Modern FirefighterMaintaining the tradition while moving technology forward: the MARK-3® Watson Edition plugs right into your existing MARK-3® water-moving systems. It will set a new benchmark of excellence for high-pressure fire pumps in the wildland firefighting community for generations to come. The MARK-3® Watson Edition is an entirely new platform that boasts exciting modernized features including the first ever purpose-built engine for a wildland pump.

WATEROUS COMPANY

125 Hardman Ave. S.

South St. Paul MN 55075

Tel: 651-450-5000

Fax: 651-450-5090

Company Email: info@waterousco.com

Web: www.waterousco.com

C.H. Waterous started Waterous Engine Works Company in 1844 in Brantford, Ontario and then expanded to South St. Paul, Minnesota in 1886. Since then, Waterous has been the leader in the manufacturing of fire pumps for our everyday heroes. At Waterous, we have been and always will be firefighters.

WFR WHOLESALE FIRE & RESCUE LTD.

129-7155 57 St. SE

Calgary AB T2C 5W2

Tel: 403-279-0400

Toll free: 800-561-0400

Fax: 800-561-0400

Company Email: sales@wfrfire.com

Web: www.wfrfire.com

WFR Wholesale Fire & Rescue is Canada’s equipment destination for fire & rescue equipment. This family owned and operated business has been serving firefighters since 1986 and endeavours to continue our history of supplying you our best products and unquestionable service and support.

TRAINER’S CORNER

By Ed Brouwer

instructor and ordained disaster-response chaplain. Contact aka-opa@hotmail.com.

Cold weather operations

As I wrote this, B.C. was in the middle of an Arctic freeze. Our overnight temperatures were -35 C and daytime reached a balmy -20 C.

“Old man winter” had arrived, and I found myself thankful for two things: first that I wasn’t in Alberta, (they were much colder than us) and secondly, I was thankful to be retired. I’ve certainly had my fair share of icicles hanging off my SCBA mask.

In most parts of Canada, firefighters must now deal with additional demands on their physical being and emergency apparatus due to heavy snowfall and extremely cold temperatures.

When responding to an emergency in sub-zero temperatures, firefighters need to be aware of the impact of cold weather conditions on personal safety. It has been said that fighting the elements and working on icy surfaces starts the moment the bay doors open. True enough, but for paid-on-

call members, it starts when the pager sounds:

• Will your personal vehicle start in sub-zero temperatures?

• Is your driveway clear?

• Did you remove all the snow/ice from your vehicle’s windows?

Don’t become the emergency through unsafe driving practices.

Winter road conditions can adversely affect your personal vehicle as well as fire apparatus handling. Firefighters should be trained to deal with increased stopping distances, decreased visibility and the unpredictable actions of other motorists.

Apparatus operators should consider the need for alternate routes in case of inaccessibility to the incident due to snow.

Keep in mind extreme winter conditions will cause longer response times. You have heard this before, but it bears repeating that you, as a first responder, are of little value unless you

ABOVE The applied water may turn to ice, adding weight and increasing the potential for collapse. .

are able to arrive on scene safely. Once on scene, the IC will have to take into account seasonal hinderances to access and placement of apparatus:

• Do snowbanks block access?

• Is there ice on the stairs?

• Are fire hydrants accessible?

• Are there hidden hazards under the snow? (trip or fall hazards).

Water on the ground during cold weather operations will create an increased potential for slips and falls. Be aware that some of the water applied to a burning structure may freeze on the building. As more and more water is applied, ice will cause additional weight and stress on structural members increasing collapse potential.

Over the years I have compiled a list of concerns and suggestions regarding cold weather operations. Some of these were from departments I was involved with; others came as suggestions from departments across

Ed Brouwer is the chief instructor for Canwest Fire in Osoyoos, B.C., a retired deputy chief training officer, fire warden, WUI

Introducing the Ready Rack Vortex DC2 Drying Cabinet and Vortex Extractors.

Increase efficiency and preserve the integrity of high-performance flame resistant fabrics with the Vortex DC2 Drying Cabinet. Versatility is at the core of the Vortex DC2, which accommodates turnout gear, boots, gloves and hoods to provide a tailored solution for properly drying personal protective apparel and more. The Vortex DC2 boasts temperature tracking sensors, pre-programmed cycles and a standard 110v connection ensuring simple set up and operation. Pair with a Vortex Extractor (EW22G or EW35G) for effective PPE decontamination and stay ready for the next call.

TRAINER’S CORNER

By Ed Brouwer

our great country. One common concern was that cold weather operations take a huge toll on your apparatus and your members. Hopefully the following points will prove to be a good review for you and your crews.

• Apparatus maintenance is crucial! Make sure that tire chains or other traction devices are available for all first-in units.

• Carry a supply of salt, sand or oildry to enhance footing and reduce the possibility of falls.

• If hose lines are going into a long standby mode, partially open the control valves. This will allow water to flow and prevent freezing.

• During heavy snowfalls, apparatus may be forced to operate at a greater distance from the fire building. Extra lengths of attack line should be added to pre-connects to com-

pensate for that additional stretch.

• Ensure that extra turnout gear is available, especially gloves. It’s recommended that firefighters wear layered clothing.

• Bunker boots and winter roof conditions can quickly add up to an accident. Some soles become hard in cold weather, others are worn smooth (and really should be replaced). Both cases can prevent them from having good traction, especially on ice. Removable traction grips are available to fit bunker boots.

Carry a supply of salt, sand or oil-dry to enhance footing and reduce the possibility of falls.

• Fire hydrants near roadways can be covered with plowed snow. Departments should ensure hydrants are accessible after severe storms before they freeze by routinely checking on them and clearing snow from them. Attaching flags or other marking device to the hydrant before it snows can make it easier to spot them when snow covered.

• Small, handheld propane torches can help free frozen hydrant caps or hose couplings during cold weather.

• A spray bottle full of antifreeze can help free frozen caps or couplings. During winter months, try spraying this on port cap threads to keep them from freezing.

• Vehicles that are mechanically marginal in good weather are almost guaranteed to fail when the weather turns cold.

• Severe cold will significantly reduce battery capacity. Check all batteries, hand-lights, PASS alarms and radios.

• If you have tire chains, make sure everyone knows how to install them and how to drive with them once they’re on. Those with “insta-chains” need to make make sure

they engage and disengage properly. You should also check your tandem axle differential lockups if you have them.

• Some departments have found success with plug-in battery trickle chargers and engine pre-heaters to help in those bitter cold start-and-go scenarios.

• Develop a plan “B” with the agency responsible for road maintenance.

• Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding the cold weather use of SCBA. Review BA emergency procedures.

• The IC should request additional resources as soon as possible. Firefighters may only be able to battle the elements for short time periods in extreme weather.

Last but not least, don’t forget to review the procedures for dealing with hypothermia. Not just for the public, but for your firefighters. This condition results when the body core temperature falls below normal. Firefighters suffering from hypothermia will exhibit shivering, confusion, extreme fatigue, and drowsiness.

Rehab now concerns re-warming as well as re-hydration.

Along with hypothermia do not overlook frostbite, which is caused by parts of the body being exposed to extreme cold. Fluids contained within an exposed body part freeze causing blood vessel damage and necrosis or death of tissue in the affected area. Frostbite will appear as discoloration in skin appearance and will be accompanied by numbness and stiffness to the affected area.

Several factors contribute to the severity of frostbite:

• The temperature to which the exposed part is exposed.

• The length of time which the body part is exposed.

• The condition of clothing covering the exposed area (wet or dry).

Most often the hands, feet, ears, and face of a firefighter are most prone to frostbite. The best way to prevent frostbite is to pro-

tect skin from direct exposure to cold air. I know it sounds like a broken record, but firefighters should replace wet gloves as soon as possible.

As well as gloves it may be a good idea to keep a change of socks in your gear bag or on the apparatus during winter months. Try to dress in layers under your PPE.

Cold weather can definitely take a toll on firefighters and the equipment that they use. However, with proper pre-incident planning, training and awareness, the hazards of extreme winter weather fire fighting can be reduced to allow safe operations on the fire ground.

A note to training officers: Your dedication to firefighter safety, whether through new innovations or simply reviewing old time-tested procedures, is what makes the difference every day on the fire ground. I thank you for your dedication to excellence. Until next time please, stay safe and remember to, “Train like lives depend on it, because they do.”

4-9-4 – Ed.

23_011345_Firefighting_In_CN_FEB_CN Mod: December 18, 2023 12:43 PM Print: 01/25/24 page 1 v2.5

EMERGENCY SHOWER

GUEST COLUMN

By Lorianne Zwicker, Deputy Fire Chief, Georgina, Ontario

Lorianne Zwicker is a deputy fire chief with Georgina Fire & Rescue Services who created the first live data Community Risk Assessment and Community Risk Reduction Plan in Ontario. For a demo: lzwicker@georgina.ca.

RISK PRIORITIZATION

In my previous article, “Community Risk Reduction – Where do I Start?”, we highlighted key components to consider as you start your Community Risk Assessment. Once you have completed your assessment and identified your risks, you are now ready for the next phase: prioritizing and strategizing. Not all problems are created equal. Moreover, certain risks have a broader or deeper impact on our communities. There is no exact cookie cutter format. The community you serve is individual and providing your community with the programs and services speaking directly to their needs will result in the most positive outcomes. Also, you may find that you can implement many different strategies to meet one or more of your risks. Building different strategies at this point will provide you with alternative solutions. These solutions can be utilized should you not see the outcomes you desired during the evaluation process.

When assessing a risk, ask yourself, “Who is most affected by this risk?” Then, “How can we reach them?” Knowing your risks and creating your plan will provide you with insight on how you want to get the message out to the residents and visitors in your community.

Be prepared – your risk assessment programs may not provide you with immediate results. Some programs may take years before they show results.

Education is the first line of defence. Through education, we can provide knowledge and information to change behaviour. There is a wide variety of prevention program options: schools

Be prepared – your risk assessment programs may not provide you with immediate results.

and senior residences, flyers, mailings, media (TV/social media), lectures, fire station/truck tours, fire department apps and your fire department website; to mention a few.

In Georgina, we created a new program to prioritize risks by community. When we look at our community in its entirety, we noted that the top three risks of fire were cooking, smoking and electrical. However, when we broke Georgina down into smaller communities, we noted that there are areas that do not reflect these top three causes of fire. For instance, in Community #4, the top three causes of fire were batteries, woodstove/chimney and open air burning. Our new Community Captain Program empowered our crews with additional knowledge about their assigned community risks. The crews can target message the risks that speak specifically to their assigned community. Community Captain is aligned with our Home Safe Home campaign, and both of these programs are evaluated through a live data portal.

Though difficult at times to gain entry into a home for a smoke alarm check, crews have a focused message they can share with the resident – to date, 28 per cent of the homes that the crews attended show they had a face-toface conversation with the resident on the risks to their community and provided educational material. This data is invaluable. Creating and implementing programs that can be easily evaluated is the best approach.

Take a look at what risks can be mitigated through engineering by making a change in the physical environment.

Smoke alarm programs can provide early warning and home sprinkler programs can provide additional protection of the home, mitigating injury, death or destruction of property. Finding community partners is essential in the creation of these programs.

Inspection programs are another option in risk mitigation and the second line of defence. Enforcement of smoke alarm programs and inspections of highrisk areas can be created and implemented, depending on your available resources. Enforcement may come with economic impact – we need to ensure that our programs reflect positive economic impacts. Fines may result in a change of behaviour, however, positive incentives also create a change of behavior. Keep economic factors in mind. Consider programs that utilize your crews. In Georgina, we have an In-Service Inspection program. Crews are trained on fire code requirements and are assigned inspections throughout the year. All inspections are entered into our live data portal for easy access and evaluation.

Our third line of defence is emergency response. Many municipalities use the first two lines of defence for their Community Risk Reduction Plan. However, emergency response resources should also be included in your risk plan. To be effective, your response system should ensure that you have sufficient trained personnel, equipment and adequate response times to match the risk levels. When prevention and education fail, your emergency response should reduce or mitigate the impact of the event.

Pentheon PCU 50 Cutter

GUEST COLUMN

By Rob Grimwood, President, Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs

The OAFC: A look back and ahead

With 2023 at an end, I want to reflect on the great year that the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs (OAFC) had and look forward to an exciting 2024. With 2023 at an end, I want to reflect on the great year that the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs (OAFC) had and look forward to an exciting 2024.

From Nov. 20 to 24, over 200 OAFC members came together in Niagara Falls for the OAFC Health & Safety Workshop and Annual General Meeting (AGM). The busy week included an all-day seminar by the Fire Department Safety Officers Association; four half-day roundtable sessions on important and emerging issues, and presentations on preparing for active attacker incidents, community risk assessments, preventing human trafficking, fire underwriters survey and an update from the Ontario Mental Health Secretariat and the Ontario Fire Marshal. There was an incredible keynote presentation by Lionel Crowther and several networking events.

The AGM week concluded the OAFC Board of Director elections, resulting in the 2024 board being comprised of myself as president, vice-president Jeremy Parkin, treasurer Jeremy Inglis, secretary Brian Arnold and directors Chad Brown, Mark Berney, Andrea DeJong, Jason Whiteley, Brent Thomas, Kent Readman, Paul Boissonneault and Gene Thompson. Mark MacDonald has since been chosen as our new executive director.

Members took an opportunity during the AGM to recognize the recent passing of long-time OAFC director Warren Brinkman, who was posthu-

mously given the President’s Award and recognized with a moment of silence. Another long-time director, recently retired Fire Chief Rick Arnel, was recognized with a President’s Award, along with the traditional bugle presented to recognize out-going board members.

Looking ahead, OAFC members continue to tackle include the increased prevalence of wildland fires, the dangers of urban/wildland interface and how Ontario fire departments are impacted; preparing to be able to effectively respond to active attacker events; modern fires and fire science and the need to adapt changes in tactics to match modern risks; tiered response programs and the impact of the implementation of the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS); the hazards of lithium-ion battery fires; the fire and life safety impacts of rapid building and population growth; challenges related to volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention and safety considerations associated with unsheltered encampments.

The OAFC’s 2024 line-up of events includes: the Northeastern Fire Education Conference & Trade Show in Huntsville from March 21 to 24; the OAFC Conference & Trade Show at the International Centre in Mississauga from May 1 to 4; the Queen’s Park Advocacy Day in Toronto on May 29; FireCon in Thunder Bay from Sept. 4 to 7 and the OAFC Health & Safety Workshop and Annual General Meeting

in Niagara Falls from Nov. 18 to 22. Additional OAFC happenings encompass:

• An exciting announcement by the Ontario Chief Coroner’s office regarding the development of a process whereby all fire ground line of duty deaths and firefighter suicides will be investigated with the goal of developing recommendations to prevent future deaths.

• Attending Queen’s Park on Nov. 30 where the government enacted the Enhancing Access to Justice Act which proposes changes to the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 (FPPA) to enhance enforcement and compliance by enabling the future development of an Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) framework.

• I attended the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Fire Chief’s Forum in Boston where fire chief association presidents from all states, provinces and territories met for two days to discuss topics covering fire data analytics, NFPA 3000 and preparing for active shooter and hostile event responses, energy storage systems and electric vehicles, wildfires, construction site fire safety, NFPA codes and standards, fire protection research and more.

• The release of the second round of $206 million dollars in provincial funding towards the implementation of Next Generation 911 for emergency service dispatch centres.

• Participating in the Health Canada and International Association of Fire Fighters Workshop on Fire Fighter Occupational Exposure Reduction: Best Practices and Intervention in Ottawa.

• Participating in the Health Canada and Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs Building out the Firefighter Cancer Awareness, Prevention, and Access to Care Puzzle workshop. The OAFC appreciates all its strong partnerships with stakeholders and looks forward to an amazing 2024!

Rob Grimwood is a deputy chief with Mississauga Fire & Emergency Services, where he oversees the Professional Development & Accreditation and Communications Divisions.

By Chris Dennis

A story with many lessons

Another year has gone by, never to be seen again. I wish nothing but good health and happiness to you all in 2024. I want to say thank you to all of you that follow these articles from one year to the next. I hope they help you better your fire department, even in a small way.

My first article for 2024 addresses the elephant in the fire truck room: How much? How long? Why? What? And so on. It appears that the pandemic has had a longer lasting effect on how business and personal lives are to be handled and run than we anticipated. We may have ordered new apparatus and new vehicles at the front end of the pandemic only to find out that fewer people were working so fewer could be built. If it was already built and you needed it, you may have paid double because you needed it right then. The same held true if you were selling — you made large money because somebody else needed it. This has been a learning curve for many.

A story for you: In 2019 we lost the district chief’s vehicle in an intersection crash with no personal injury. The DC’s vehicle was hit. Insurance kicked in because it was a write-off. The vehicle was at the end of its life cycle, so not so bad anyway. This was a little premature to think, but needless to say, the replacement would now have to be ordered. The purchasing department put it out to bid and the contract was awarded. The vehicle was ordered and was expected to be delivered in about eight to 12 weeks, which took us well into March of the first year of covid. We took delivery of the vehicle in May 2023. It was not what we spec’d and because the manufacturer was still way behind, they said take it at this discounted price or leave it and wait until who knows how long for another

When you spec a new build, ask about paint warranty.

one. We took it. This vehicle spec was completely outfitted from the factory as it was an emergency response Interceptor known as a police package. When it arrived, it was missing some of the factory installed package it was spec’d with. We now had to go out to quote for parts left out of the factory build pertaining to the emergency package. Internally we had the means to install them. A well-known emergency lighting manufacturer was our choice, only to find out if we order we might get some of it in three months.

We managed from 2019 onward only because we have a dedicated apparatus division and could keep the costs down with repairs.

In 2022 our platoon chief’s vehicle was hit at an intersection. Not the fire department’s fault. Now we had two Interceptors on order with the same spec.

We shopped around for the emergency package parts we needed to build the vehicle to what we had spec’d. We were also able to remove a lot of the lighting package from the wreck to repurpose. During this time, we learned that the future for new vehicle purchases, big or small, was

going to be a challenge.

Both new vehicles arrived in the third quarter of 2023. Same spec, yet when delivered, they were not the same. The 2020 build was $20,000 less than the 2022 build. Both came in as 2023s. Both vehicles are now built and on the road. Our financial department in conjunction with the fire department were able to come up with the money needed to complete these builds. Insurance did not cover these additional headaches.

Front line class 8 fire apparatus: one and a half to two years now once ordered to complete. A lack of labour in manufacturing explains some of the delay. Not enough staff means not enough gets done. This includes all the biproducts required to build a fire truck, from the stainless steel to the screws in the front bumper and tailboard. If it’s not already in your building or on a shelf, you’re not likely to get it right away.

The cost? Hard to figure this one out. Supply and demand? Material not available from regular sources so pay more? People not working for what the previous pay was? The jury is still out but we pay more for absolutely everything.

Chris Dennis is the chief mechanical officer for Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service in Ontario. He can be reached at Chris.Dennis@ vaughan.ca.

VFRS’ 2023 Ford Explorer Interceptor hybrid.

TECH TALK

By Chris Dennis

When you go to council for budget, keep in mind that you will be keeping your fleet longer. That means you need to budget for more repairs. You may have to stock some common tire sizes, especially for the rigs. Last year was the first time I held surplus tires. I am keeping decent class 8 tires now as well. In the past, if a truck had one- or two-year old tires that were needed to keep it on the road until auction time, it would be sold with the tires to help increase value. I now remove them and refit take-offs or well-worn tires before the truck goes off to auction or for sale. I am removing emergency lighting. We are finding simple 600 series lights. Red, blue, amber and white are becoming very expensive and harder to get right away when you need them. Every department is different, but no matter if you’re full-time, composite or volunteer, you should budget or start thinking about how you are able to get parts when you need them. Not the serious parts, but simple ones like tires, emergency lights, SCBA items, cab seats and cushions. Think about re-upholstering not replacing, and that seat belt or ground ladder you need to replace. I recently did my annual ground ladder testing and two ladders failed so we made one out of two and had it retested to pass. Think outsidethe-box.

New truck deliveries may be missing parts. We received three new

F-150 Lightening EV.

engines and one was missing all the ground ladders, another with the single fly damaged at the manufacturer, and one complete. I was unable to put a brand new truck in service with new ladders because there were none available. We ended up putting 2023 pass-tested ladders on a new truck so it could go into service.

When you spec a new build, ask about paint warranty. Be sure to read the fine print and ask if it is pro-rated. You do not want the headache of denied warranty paint jobs if, for example, corrosion is not covered. Pay close attention where the lights, trim, fenderettes, handle, etc., get fastened to the truck. This is where you will see the paint bubbling out, usually at the 12- to 20-month time frame (or one Canadian winter). I have yet to see a flat surface like the middle of the door bubble out if there is nothing fastened

Self-Supporting

onto it. In some cases, once the body shop starts to take the corrosion off the alum, it has been noticed the area was poorly primed or treated. This is another reason paint should be covered. If corrosion starts, I believe it’s due to poor paint quality, or a break or blemish in the paint, and then the corrosion process begins. You will have to be creative, start processes early for paint and body, or when next spec goes out ask what the savings is not to have warranty on paint. If you have a commercial cab and chassis with an apparatus built body in Canada, look for bubbling under fenderettes, grab handles and other items anchored to the body. Pay close attention or you may be facing large estimates for a re-paint.

Last item: If you accept a long build time, be sure you have full warranty coverage when the truck is delivered. Some engine manufacturers start engine warranty once they sell the engine to the builder. Imagine I order a custom fire truck and I get it two and a half years later with less than three thousand kilometres on it and the engine is already out of basic warranty. You may want to write a goodwill clause into your build so the selling dealer is responsible as well. It will be interesting to see how the electric fire truck warranties work. Stay tuned, stay safe and remember rubber side down!

VFRS’ 2023 Ford

By Fire Chief Michael Boyle

ADULT EDUCATION in the fire service

Different motivations and ways of learning are of key relevancy in teaching adults

I have sometimes, but admittedly rarely, been asked why a fire chief is studying adult education. The short answer is that I fell into it through a bachelor’s degree where I earned a minor in adult education. What started simply as an elective course led to several years of learning about adults and how we learn. “Adult education” is one of those terms that can be hard to define; who is an adult educator? Is it only those

who teach at post-secondary institutions? From my perspective, I came to realize as a fire chief that the principles of adult education apply in many aspects of the position. As a fire chief, I am involved in the training and teaching of firefighters, educating municipal officials on the fire service, and working with the public through fire prevention. In short, I am an adult educator.

It is my belief that understanding how adults learn and what motivates them to learn can contribute to your success as a company or chief officer within your fire department. Malcolm Knowles, very well known in the realm of adult education, developed the principles or assumptions of andragogy (or adult education) that speak to the characteristics of adult learners:

• They need to know the reason they are being asked to learn something.

• Adult learners bring a vast amount of experience to the learning environment.

• They have a need for autonomy and prefer some control over their learning.

• Adults usually come with a readiness to learn.

• Adult learners usually learn best when the motivation comes from them (intrinsic motivation).

• Adults learn best when the learner is problem oriented; they want specific knowledge rather than generic content.

Beyond the assumptions about adult learners, we all learn differently. Do you learn by doing? By listening to a lecture or through a YouTube video? Or by watching someone practicing a skill then trying it yourself? It is also important to consider the barriers that can prevent learning, whether it is a learning disability or a physical impairment (sight or vision maybe) that can impact how someone learns.

So how can understanding adult learners and adult education benefit the fire service?

RESPECT FOR EXPERIENCE

If there was one thing I would recommend to anyone training firefighters, it would be to appreciate and utilize the experience in the room. The fire service has crafted the “art of storytelling” and although these stories are often told with a good dose of humour, there is often a real lesson in there – whether it’s when things went well or when they didn’t. If you are leading a training session in your fire department, think of yourself as a facilitator instead of an instructor. Ask for input. Share stories and encourage others to do the same. One of my favourite things about teaching in the fire service is that we have veteran firefighters with decades of experience taking the same training as the probie just starting their career. Don’t be afraid to ask those “old” firefighters to share their experience. Think of it as cooperative learning.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Fire fighting is a tough and dangerous job. Although there is tons of theory that firefighters need to learn, it’s about hands-on work and the best way to learn is by doing. As mentioned, adults learn in different ways and while there is no way to identify how each individual in your department learns, the best approach is to teach using as many methods as possible. Give a lecture, provide hand-outs, show videos, but in the end, get out on the training ground and DO. It’s easy to talk lots and do little when it comes to training.

MORE EFFECTIVE TRAINING

If you have taken the fire service instructor course, you have actually read about andragogy (the science of teaching adults). Whether you remember the term might be a different story. But understanding adult learners, how they learn and what motivates them will benefit you whether you are a company officer, training officer or chief officer. Learning more about adult education can help you understand how to teach in a way that will create more engaging learning experiences, improve knowledge retention and may give you the opportunity to tailor your instruction to the needs of your firefighters.

Teaching adults, and especially teaching firefighters is a privilege that I hope you have or will get to experience in your career.

Michael Boyle is the fire chief of the Kennebecasis Valley Fire Department in Rothesay, N.B., and is a candidate for the Master of Education (Adult Education) from the University of New Brunswick. You can contact him at q925@unb.ca.

Navigating the Mental Health Challenges of Firefighting with CIPSRT Hub

The 2023 Great Canadian Fire Census from the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs was clear: last year was difficult for Canada’s firefighters with an increased number of emergency calls, a drop in volunteer firefighters, and rising training and equipment costs.

It can be easy to ignore signs of mental health challenges when going through stressful times. Too often, we tend to underestimate the effects of mental health challenges on our overall wellbeing, our family, and our work. This is especially true for firefighters and other public safety personnel (PSP). Firefighters are regularly exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events, including critical incidents, and other occupational stressors that increase their risk for developing symptoms of psychological disorders, suicidality, moral injuries, and sleep difficulties.

February is Preventative Health Awareness Month. It is a good time to renew our New Year’s good health habits, including our holistic well-being. To help you do so, the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) engages in research, treatment, and knowledge exchange focused on the mental challenges most prevalent among firefighters and other PSP. Specifically, CIPSRT is non-partisan, government-funded, and dedicated to researching and treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety-, mood-, and substance use disorders, suicidal ideation, and burnout.

CIPSRT emphasizes the importance of understanding how the many occupational stressors impact firefighters and other PSP over time.

Many firefighters and other PSP want help managing stressors or want to get ahead of the curve by building mental health resilience. CIPSRT works to support their efforts by offering a wealth of free, online, evidence-based resources and toolkits specifically designed for current and former firefighters, other PSP, and their families. The readily accessible resources can help with many mental health challenges facing modern firefighters.

CIPSRT provides programs, webinars, informative videos, and research summaries, such as the PTSD: THE BASICS video capsule and the Sleep 101 toolkit, to cultivate mental and emotional resilience. The broad range of resources and tools are available online in several formats to help accommodate the challenging schedules of firefighters. CIPSRT also offers free, online, cognitive behavioural therapy programming tailored to PSP through a program called PSPNET (www.pspnet.ca) that is available in in self-guided format across Canada and in therapist-guided format in six provinces (ON, NB, NS, PEI, QC, and SK).

Using research to meet concrete needs

Several researchers have evidenced firefighters are at increased risk for suicidal behaviours due in large part to the many occupational

stressors inherent to their careers. The research results underscore the need to support and empower individuals and organizations to build sustainable careers for everyone who serves.

CIPSRT is part of a consortium dedicated to PSP mental health research. For example, the 2021 study, Mental health impacts and priorities for Canadian career firefighters, led by prominent CIPSRT member, Dr. Joy MacDermid, identified common self-observed mental health impacts and maladaptive behaviours among firefighters (e.g., alcohol consumption, taking things out on others, absenteeism at work) as well as barriers to mental health support (e.g., a lack of skills to recognize and treat mental health, culture of “tough” and force-oriented firefighters, a lack of understanding and prevention among fire leaders, a lack of accessible support).

A different study led by Canadian researchers across the country and supported by CIPSRT, Mental Health of Canadian Firefighters: The Impact of Sleep, evidenced that 69% of firefighters reported less than ideal sleep quality and 21% screened positive for clinical insomnia with no significant difference between the volunteer and career subgroups. Firefighters with insomnia had higher odds, ratios and frequencies of PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, and major depressive disorder than firefighters without insomnia.

These researchers and results help everyone better understand firefighters’ concrete needs and orient available programs and resources in response. CIPSRT is working to help mobilize research results into real changes for firefighters and other PSP. For the first time, in March of this year, CIPSRT will be hosting a two-day Symposium in Ottawa to increase awareness among first responders and other PSP about opportunities to improve mental health and wellbeing.

Whether seeking guidance on stress management, coping strategies, or general mental health wellbeing, CIPSRT invites current and former firefighters to make use of their resources and prioritize their mental wellbeing for themselves and those around them.

GUEST COLUMN

By Shelley Langille, SeeShell Consulting

The real power of reflection

Reflection isn’t a sporadic exercise; it’s a continuous journey of learning and growth.

The benefits of reflection are well documented. In “Beyond Training: New Firefighters and Critical Reflection,” published in Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, associate professor Merilyn Childs stated: “Future firefighters will need to be adaptive, reflective and accountable; able to demonstrate discursive and inquisitive capabilities; and engage in reflected actions both on and off the incident ground.”

In the world of fire fighting, reflection isn’t just a pause, it’s a powerful tool for self care. Ultimately, a reflective fire service cultivates a culture of learning, and boosts adaptability and camaraderie.

Resilience: Firefighters face physical, mental and emotional challenges. Reflection acts as a crucible in which experiences are examined and lessons are extracted, forging a resilient mindset. In the aftermath of a challenging call, taking the time to reflect on what went well, what could be improved, and the emotional impact of the experience can be transformative.

By encouraging firefighters to dissect their experiences and name the emotions that come after the call, the fire service cultivates a culture of continuous improvement.

Mind health: The intensity of the job, coupled with exposure to trauma, can lead to stress, anxiety, and other mind health challenges. This is where reflection emerges as a potent antidote.

Reflection provides a space for firefighters to process the emotional fallout left by extreme experiences. It’s a therapeutic exercise that allows individuals to confront and understand their emotions, preventing the build up of psychological burden. Regular reflection acts as a release valve, allowing firefighters to let off steam and maintain their mental well-being.

Additionally, reflection fosters a sense of mindfulness – an awareness of one’s thoughts and feelings in the present moment. This mindfulness, cultivated through reflective practices, equips firefighters with the emotional intelligence to navigate high-pressure situations with greater composure. By integrating reflective practices into their routine, firefighters develop a mental strength that serves as a shield to help protect against the damaging effects of stress and trauma.

Trust: Trust is the critical foundation of any effective fire fighting team. Trust is the glue that binds individuals in high-stakes situations, where seamless teamwork is paramount. Reflection plays a pivotal role in building and reinforcing this trust.

When firefighters come together to reflect on their experiences, a unique bond is formed. The vulnerability of sharing personal challenges and triumphs fosters a deep sense of connection and belonging. Knowing that fellow members have grappled with the same fears, doubts, and uncertainties creates

Shelley (Shell) Langille spent over 15 years working with fire and first responders before launching SeeShell Consulting (SSC) and the International Coach Coalition (ICC). Reach Shell at Shell@SeeShellConsulting.com.

an environment of mutual understanding and support. Reflective team practices help team members feel seen, heard, understood, and supported.

Trust isn’t just about relying on someone in a crisis; it’s about understanding and empathizing with the journey that led them to that point. Reflective team practices provide a structured space for these conversations, enabling team members to share not only the technical aspects of a call, but also its emotional and psychological impacts.

In turn, this shared vulnerability enhances communication. Firefighters become attuned to each other’s needs, strengths, and triggers. They learn to anticipate and support one another, creating a cohesive unit that operates with precision even in the chaotic unpredictability of fire fighting.

Reflection isn’t a sporadic exercise; it’s a continuous journey of learning and growth. When integrated into the fabric of the fire service, it becomes a dynamic force that propels the organization forward.

By institutionalizing reflective practices, the fire service signals a commitment to learning from every experience, whether a routine call or a major incident. This commitment to continuous improvement resonates throughout the organization, inspiring a culture where mistakes are viewed not as failures but as opportunities for growth and evolution.

The process and implementation of reflective practices are just as important as the technical training firefighters receive and may be a key factor to strengthening fire service recruitment and retention during a critical time of challenges in consistently having a full team to respond to emergencies.

The fire service, by embracing reflection as a cornerstone of its culture, not only enhances the capabilities of its members but also fortifies the very foundation upon which their success depends.

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VOLUNTEER VISION

By Vince MacKenzie, Fire Chief, Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador

Have we reached the tipping point?

I’ve been writing Volunteer Vision for over a decade now. For this edition, I looked back on some of my earlier columns for inspiration. While reading some of my previous musings, I was struck by the notion that we will never keep up with the changing landscape of our service.

Will the next standard change or government regulation finally tip the volunteer fire service over the edge of no return?

In a changing world, Canada’s volunteer fire departments are struggling to exist in their former ways as they strive to improve. We do this despite being hit with higher costs, increased service demands, changing standards and practices, and a volunteer demographic that doesn’t seem to want to volunteer much of their time anymore. The entire fire service resembles nothing of its days gone by. All the statistics prove that.

I guess the old clichéd notion holds true: “The only thing constant is change.” Personally, I get sick of that cliché, but it is true. For those of you that like life consistent, it can be a real problem for you, and you will become one of the cliché dinosaurs. Today’s firefighter must have a mindset that change will always be — and I think it should. Yet, I meet so many that just want things to stay nice and comfortable; old ways and old means. It is almost like they are saying “I’m a dinosaur, hear me roar.”

Chief fire officers and volunteer firefighters have always struggled financially, and unfortunately I don’t think that constant will ever change. It

is not only volunteer fire departments facing financial pressures; this certainly holds true for all career departments as well. The challenges are so much more noticeable in the volunteer world because we only have bare necessities to begin with and lack personnel with the extra time to deal with it.

No column that I ever write will magically make our fire departments cheaper to operate while becoming more efficient and improving. Good fire officers accept the fact that we try to provide an improving fire service every day to Canada’s small municipalities with meager funding. That meager funding will never meet our community’s needs and expectations. If your department does meet all the needs, please write a column, and tell us all how you did it! In the absence of that, fire chiefs and managers will continue to administer and find efficiencies with less. It is part of our job, at least it has always been part of mine.

Sooner or later we all fear the major change that will be the death knell of our volunteer organizations because fire departments simply must exist to protect communities. Some will say that all firefighters in Canada deserve to be paid. I tend to agree but I also know that this is simply not practical in small town Canada. Will the next standard change or government regulation finally tip the volunteer fire service over the edge of no return? Early in my career I would

Vince MacKenzie i s the fire chief in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L. He is an executive member of the CAFC and current president of the Maritime Fire Chiefs Association. Email Vince at firechief@townofgfw.com.

have said no, but I can almost believe that someday we may see a national emergency fire service that covers the entire country.

Some of our European counterparts have a national fire service, but these countries are very small geographically and much easier to provide coverage. Canada is a very large land mass, and this idea is not practical, but national support of fire services must come about in some form. But what change will make that happen? Where will it start? Maybe wildfire, climate change, and disaster management has shown the need for increased national government support more clearly now. Conversations must be had by fire service leaders to governments to map out how that will look in Canada. Leaving it to bureaucrats and politicians to propose solutions may not be in our service’s best interests and practices.

I wrote over 10 years ago on how fire departments can never be fully compliant to all the standards that are around our profession. New standards are adopted so quickly we simply cannot reset the game every time. Standards always come with increased costs, full stop. The bar gets constantly moved as we try to meet the first bar. We then strive to meet the new standards only to have the bar moved again.

I can think of many examples of how technology has risen to meet new standards, along with the costs associated, and somehow, they are never less expensive. Wait it out a little and some costs magically come down while you are moving to catch up to a newer standard.

As we progress our fire departments into new challenges, the volunteers either accept the new ways or move out of the cycle of service. New volunteers come in without prior knowledge of our earlier versions of the service so it’s a little easier to accept. Or is it? Maybe that’s why we are seeing a decline in volunteers. Have we gone over the tipping point already?

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