INSIDE
FEATURES
8 TRAINING WITH A TACTICAL MINDSET
Ideas for how to incorporate tactical goals through performance based drills into your training.
By Jennifer Delaney.
14
GOING NUCLEAR
How Windsor, Amherstburg and Essex managed a 2,500-person nuclear training event.
By Jared Dodds.
COLUMNS DEPARTMENTS
What it means to be tactical
This edition’s cover story looks at training high performance teams through the lens of improving tactical thinking. I had a think about what it means to be tactical, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized this mindset exists in all of the leaders I admire most.
Tactical is twofold in its dictionary definition. The term applies to tactics used to accomplish a goal in military action; to maximize the outcome and minimize the risk. This is a very important skill in life-or-death situations, which fire crews also find themselves in. The word also applies to any strategically planned actions that carry out a manoeuvre. Tactical is the opposite of spontaneous, though I have seen many actions that appeared spontaneous and were surely calculated. And sometimes the best acts of spontaneity had tactical foresight for inspiration. In fact, it could be argued some of the worst acts of spontaneity lacked just that.
I recently finished reading The Pause Principle by Kevin Cashman. The book’s princi-
ples are similar to FranklinCovey training that I have also received, and nutshelling it, both purport that there’s a lot of merit to taking a hot minute before you respond. Ret. Fire Chief Matthew Pegg wrote about this concept in a Leadership Column for Fire Fighting in Canada under the longer-than-a-hot-minute moniker of the 24-Hour Rule. Sometimes you need more than a beat. Jefferson Fisher, a trial lawyer, communications expert, and podcaster, promotes a Pause and Breathing technique, where your “breath is the first word that you say,” as an effective measure to stay in control as you speak when someone says something disagreeable. Unanticipated threat can cause our tactical abilities to go flying out the window — if they are not well practiced.
There are many communiques on high performance that draw on what amounts to precision thinking, whether accomplished fast or slow. Strategies require methods of staying present while also being reflective and seeing outcomes while simultaneously visualizing the
MEDICAL AND WEATHERRELATED INCIDENTS
now comprise about of the calls that fire departments respond to (CAFC, 2023)
60% B.C. is funding more than 60 projects to reduce wildfire risk and support forestry
139%
The number of deaths from unintentional injuries more than doubled since 2000, marking an increase of driven largey by accidental falls and poisenings, reported Statistics Canada in February.
many complex angles of the problem. Highly tactical thinkers are a recognizable breed — they get things done, are adaptable, highly goal-oriented, at their best in chaos, have a knack for foresight and prefer not to muddle about in abstract conversations. The fire service is rich with highly tactical thinkers, and all the better for it.
The complementary skillset that accompanies tactical thinking, and is much needed for holistic success personally and professionally, is strategic planning. Long range goals and an understanding of far-off potential consequences can be boring for the action-oriented types, but are, as we all know, invaluable to the success of an organization. If you are a highly tactical thinker, it may be a boon to enrich your department with bright strategic planners.
LAURA AIKEN Editor laiken@annexbusinessmedia.com
As of May 7, there were 14 wildfires documented in Canada, reported the CIFFC.
Nuclear provides about one-quarter of the world’s low-carbon electricity, reported the World Nuclear Association.
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Highlights from the 2025 CBRNE & Robotics Summit: Robotics, drones and emergency preparedness
The 2025 Canadian CBRNE & Robotics Summit was held in Kitchener, Ont., from April 7-8. For the second consecutive year, the show was sold out for both attendees and vendors, with a waiting list for vendors, reported the show’s organizers — the Ontario Hazardous Materials Responders Association. With nearly 300 attendees and 36 vendors, the event space buzzed with eagerness to learn.
This year’s theme was “uniting to enhance preparedness for tomorrow’s emergency response,” aiming to bring together all emergency services disciplines to learn and improve response. The rebranded event highlighted robotics and drone technology in the learning program.
Learning opportunities on day one included courses on the dangers associated with simple odour investigations, fostering meaningful consultations with local fire departments, safely rescuing your own members, understanding blood-borne pathogens, using emergency response guidebooks, addressing the mental health of your team, applying drone
technology in hazardous environments, comprehending the inner workings of an electric vehicle, making unified command decisions for first responder safety, managing radioactive shipments, operating air monitoring devices, developing emergency response assistance plans (ERAPs), handling homemade explosives, protecting against chemical threats using FTIR, integrating K9/drone operations, conducting helicopter/drone operations, coordinating multi-agency drone operations, and performing rapid scene modelling with LIDAR.
Day two courses focused on rail emergencies, high-stakes hazmat fire response for airports and industry, dressing for success at a CBRNE event, designated officers, unrealistic societal expectations that require first responders to remain unshakeable in the face of emergencies, mercury response, hazmat’s role in special operations, lithium-ion battery fire mitigation beyond EVs, dry decontamination for law enforcement and paramedics, how TAK is transforming public safety operations, responding to nuclear emergencies, fire/hazmat operations utilizing drone and robot systems, understanding the drone threat to public safety operations, airspace awareness, and using radar to enhance operational safety.
The Ontario Hazardous Materials Responders Association (OHMRA)
executive team, including president Dawn Clinch, vice-president Steve Clark, secretary Adam McFadden and membership director Randy Narine, said they were delighted to see so many eager individuals at this year’s event and are already thinking ahead to the 2026 course offerings.
The theme of this year’s event was “uniting to enhance preparedness for tomorrow’s emergency response.”
Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency earns international accreditation
Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency (HRFE) has officially been awarded Accredited Agency status from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).
Accreditation through CFAI recognizes departments that meet rigorous international benchmarks for service delivery, planning, and continuous quality improvement. HRFE is now among an elite group of fire services in Canada and around the world to hold this distinction.
Founded in 1754, Halifax Fire is the oldest department in Canada.
“Accreditation is more than a procedural achievement – it is a powerful demonstration of our commitment to quality improvement and operational excellence,” Cathie O’Toole, chief administrative officer of Halifax Regional Municipality, said in an April 11 statement. “This process strengthens not only HRFE, but also the broader network of municipal services that work together every day to keep our community safe.”
The CFAI accreditation process is a multi-year effort involving extensive self-assessment, community risk analysis, performance benchmarking
and peer review by an independent team of fire service professionals. HRFE’s efforts were guided by its 2024–2029 Strategic Plan and the Community Risk Assessment – Standards of Cover (CRA-SoC), both developed to align with the Halifax region’s growth and evolving needs.
The designation is valid for five years, with annual compliance reporting and a reaccreditation process to follow.
Originally founded in 1754 as the Halifax Fire Service, HRFE is the oldest fire department in Canada.
Ontario building new Emergency Preparedness and Response Headquarters
In what’s being called the largest update to Ontario’s emergency command centre in more than 15 years, the Ontario government has launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) as part of the process to build a new Ontario Emergency Preparedness and Response Headquarters.
In an April 24 statement, Ontario provincial officials said the new headquarters will support the province’s work to prepare for and respond to all types of disasters, including through the deployment of Ontario Corps, a group of professionals and volunteers that the province can deploy to help communities respond to natural disasters and other emergencies.
The new state-of-the-art complex, to be located near Toronto Pearson International Airport, will be a multifaceted, secure centre that will operate all day, every day of the year. It will include dedicated training rooms and warehousing and aviation infrastructure and will be built to withstand a range of disasters including earthquakes, tornadoes and floods. Infrastructure Ontario has launched its RFP for Functional Programming Services, the statement said, which will determine the exact systems and capabilities the new headquarters will require to fulfill its functions.
Correction: From the previous edition, please note Stephen Fenner is the correct name spelling.
PROMOTIONS & APPOINTMENTS
NICK AHLEFELD is now the acting fire chief for Castlegar, B.C. Ahlefeld served as deputy chief since 2017.
On May 5, BRAD OWENS became the new deputy fire chief of operations and training for the Terrace Fire Department in B.C. Owens previously served with the District of Kitimat Fire Department.
TIM HOFSINK is the new fire chief and community emergency management coordinator for West Lincoln in Ontario. He joined the department as a volunteer firefighter, becoming deputy chief in 2018.
RETIREMENTS
SAM LATTANZIO retired from the Castlegar fire department in B.C. Lattanzio spent more than
30 years dedicated to the fire service.
Fire Chief DENNIS FISHER retired from West Lincoln Fire and Emergency Services on April 25. Fisher spent 32 years with the Ontario township, and 18 as fire chief.
LAST ALARM
Deputy Fire Chief R. JAMES “JIM” YOUNG passed away on April 19 at the age of 59. Young was the deputy fire chief in Belleville, Ont. He joined the fire service in 1992 as a part-time firefighter for Prince Edward County, and moved into a full-time position in 2003.
Ret. Fire Chief SIDNEY “SID” CREEK died on April 2 at the age of 84. Creek was born in Stratford, Ont., where he joined the fire department in 1965 and retired as fire chief in 1996.
Factory Trained Technicians
By Jennifer Delaney
TRAINING WITH A TACTICAL MINDSET
Building high performance teams
Firefighters may consider some training tedious or not very impactful — just something to get that check mark. But there is a new dynamic in fire fighting and this may mean that dynamic changes are needed in their training evolutions to keep pace with the demands of a call in today’s environments. Think about other skills we practice regularly for proficiency and speed – donning doffing, SCBA, catching the hydrant, establishing water supplies, setting up aerial ladder, laddering the building, patient assessment, etc. We all drill on these skills regularly so that we can have a tactical high-performance outcome needed during a call. Why not embrace the high-performance mindset and apply it to all your training?
Shifting your training to be tactical can really impact your team performance by being able to make dynamic shifts in methods during operations focused on outcomes based on what is presented. One definition of tactical is “actions taken to achieve immediate objectives, such as securing a position or neutralizing an enemy.” We all know that the fire will kill you, it is the reality of our work, but there are many things in our work that put us at significant risk. Studies have shown that in Mayday situations, roughly 45 per cent are resolved by self-rescue. The steps that firefighters take to get ourselves out of bad situations should be things that we practice often. A captain at a busy hall in a large
ABOVE Proficiency with your gear means master of your tools; knowing how to operate by feel.
municipality explained to me that proficiency with your gear is critical, knowing how to do everything with your SCBA with gloved hands by feel. Blacked out is important because this is what you will need to be able to do if anything happens when you are in a hostile environment. “There is no difference between 60 feet under water with no air and being in a burning room with no air...there is not air...end of story,” a rescue captain with the London, Ont., free department shared with me.
This mastery of our most important tools helps reduce stress during equipment malfunctions, and will influence reactions such as breathing rate, heart rate, and air consumption. Similar to other high-performance teams like military or sports, practicing as a group to develop proficiency as a team is critical to being able to react in high stress situations. Every skill is perishable, and we need to consider that we should be doing something every shift to maintain all of our skills. Tactical decision making will help your firefighters be able to adapt to the situation and have the ability to rapidly consider solutions and implement them because it is what is done in all your training. Work with your team on varying situations so each member is putting a different spin on the scenario you face. This will provide high-performance evolutions that consider best outcomes for and improve skill recall and proficiency.
Tactical thinking is a good fit for many of our emergency situations as our enemy can be fire, time, structural integrity, or many other things. The How often do we train on different tactics based on varying conditions or scenarios within a single session? Is the crew challenged by having each member take a turn to change the situation for the scenario in some way for the next rotation, and to allow for the size up to be done with enough of a change that it may change tactics or priorities? Frequently, crews practice the same scenario several times with little to no difference so by the fourth evolution it may be that crew members miss steps or not do the full skill, they just get to the end outcome. Using each evolution as an opportunity to add another level, a different perspective or challenge, can be a great way to reset the whole crew in the scenario while also support everyone evaluating the situation again because of the new information/ situation. Here is an example: the first scenario is a family member trapped in a basement for a daytime fire event. The second scenario is them trapped on a second-floor bedroom with a basement fire in the evening. The third scenario is a grandparent stuck in the upstairs bathroom at night with the fire on the main floor. The last scenario is the fire in a bedroom at 3:00 a.m. and the family is stuck on a verandah/balcony on the second floor. The problems on a high level are the same but the methods to control the situation may change; the tactical priorities will shift. So many things can change our perception and thus tactics: smoke showing, people in the driveway, family members or neighbours frantically yelling and trying to get our attention as we arrive. We share the information with incoming units and their thinking shifts to adapt to the new information. These factors can be mimicked in training to help build the resiliency and proficiency to function under pressure. Other crew members can be the actors so that the realistic portrayal of this type of call and the emotional stressors are present.
Tactical training involves performance-based drills that are used to develop skills, support collaboration on tactics, and improve all crew members in being able to process information and evaluate the critical factors of the event and make tactical changes based on the information they have. Practicing scenarios with urgency in them helps firefighters develop proficiency in managing the cognitive impacts of the emotional stress response. Elevated cortisol levels impact our critical thinking and decision-making skills; this is something we all know. We can’t fully eliminate it, but we can practice with scenarios that add pressure so that everyone learns methods to manage it. It also hones critical decision making as an officer when you are under stress, managing your people and the scene, and deciding what your tactical priorities are. Things such as time of day, water supply, fire location, fire conditions and the weather are all essential considerations that provide some challenges that help you apply critical thinking and adapt your thinking to a new solution. As you use this training more often you may introduce a time factor to the mix. The goal is to focus on core principals and develop critical thinking skills when you are under pressure and mental toughness to function and manage stress during decision-making through scenarios that are possible/likely situations in your community. If you want to add more reality to your scenario, bring in things like traffic sounds, pumps running, multiple vehicles with lights and strobes. You want their high-performance to feel smooth. Make one decision at a time, deal with what you know, anticipate what may come next.
There are some great resources that can be used to help you plan tactical training. There are many examples on YouTube that can help
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stage something that can be done in the station – show the first arriving unit fire videos on the TV and have the command use that video to provide direction to crews. Maybe command is sitting in their truck on the apron of the fire hall while watching a video on a tablet or cell phone to provide directions to everyone based on what tactics they are feel are needed. Crew members are in gear and ready to deploy from the apparatus grabbing hose lines or equipment to do tasks that they have been assigned. Maybe there is a tarp over the command vehicle, so they can see nothing, like a nighttime event. There is action, there is critical thinking and muscle memory. Each evolution can involve a different challenge that changes the response – time of day, weather, people, fire or smoke. Perhaps you sometime use drill sheets that have been prepared as part of your training program, or ones from a course someone has just taken, or a call you just heard about from the other shift. All of the scenarios need to have something that creates urgency and tactical thinking. It will be
done as rapid evolutions so that it has impact and is in a manageable time frame. Train every shift on maintaining skills, communication, readiness and group dynamics. Do you have a new person on the crew today? A call-in? Perfect, even more reason to train and have your team work together to function as a team.
As with any training the goals we hope to achieve is critical thinking to manage the problem we face. Core competencies are important, they are the foundation to all that we do so practicing those continuously is also important. Many resources from Rescue1, International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), NFPA, Fire Service Research Institute (FRSI) and many more are found online and will provide some ideas for different ways to train with your firefighters. They are all going to be good lessons, even if the outcome did not go the way that they anticipated. Firefighters have learned something new to add to their toolbox. The dynamic of the successful team performance, where all team members have developed the
tactical thinking and priorities that lend an understanding of what information to advise your incident commander of, what they need to know for their tactical priorities, and for managing their high performance teams to a positive outcome. Practice develops proficiency, competency and supports critical thinking in the changing environments that firefighters often face. At the end of the day, all training has the goal of successful outcomes based on defined or pre-set criteria. Applying skills in a variety of environments, circumstances, or situations helps build competency, resiliency and tactical proficiency. The outcomes should be positive and re-enforce a sense of success and achievement: you rocked that drill, you had the best time or the solution your crew used was dynamic, effective and smooth. We are all tactical warriors on the fireground, it is our job to develop solutions for the problem. Life safety is always our top goal. Practice often to achieve the creation of a tactical high-performance team.
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GOING NUCLEAR
How
Windsor, Amherstburg and Essex managed a 2,500-person nuclear training event.
When fire departments plan large-scale emergency response training, a potential starting point is ranking disasters based on their potential impact on the community, maximizing the likelihood that participants can use the training. Common threats that top these lists might include wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and more. Responding to a nuclear event, however, is rarely the largest concern for a Canadian department.
This is why the training exercise that occurred from March 14 to 21 across the city of Windsor, the county of Essex and the town of Amherstburg in Ontario was so unique: 2,500 personnel from over 95 agencies, including some from the United States, organized and executed a coordinated nuclear training event.
The training exercise, known as Cobalt Magnet 25 (CM 25), was not conducted because it was a top priority on the threat list for the Canadian communities involved. Rather, it was an American initiative, designed to test responses to a
simulated disaster at the Fermi II nuclear power plant in Newport, Mich.
“Amherstburg is in the footprint or the detailed planning zone for Fermi II; it’s one of the only municipalities in Canada with a nuclear plant outside of the country that affects it,” said Michael Mio, fire chief for the town of Amherstburg. “The province included Amherstburg in the provincial nuclear emergency response plan and got it to where it is today, which is the catalyst for our inclusion [in CM 25].”
This testing event represented the latest installment of the CM 25 testing exercises, which began in 2015, with the most recent occurring in Austin in 2022. Additionally, it was the most recent nuclear test conducted in the region, following the last nuclear training event in the Windsor area, which took place in 2004.
“In 2004, I was part of the boots-on-the-ground aspect of the exercise, assisting with monitoring and decontamination,” said Jason Pillon, fire chief for the town of Essex. “Obviously, since then, plans have been revised and improved.”
The scope of this training event was immense. The planning period lasted 24 months and included hundreds of hours of meetings to effectively coordinate efforts among 13 ministries in Ontario, 15 Canadian federal departments, U.S. government departments and the state of Michigan, six municipalities such as Amherstburg, Windsor and the county and town of Essex, along with First Nations and Indigenous partners, Windsor Regional Hospital, Bruce Power and more, totaling over 2,500 personnel.
Each department had its own objectives for the training exercise. Amherstburg, as the town in the designated planning zone, focused on practicing the provincial nuclear emergency response plan, along with its own emergency response plan.
This required the opening of the town’s Emergency Operations Centre, staffed by over 40 personnel, including the heads of the town council and local partners such as Essex Windsor EMS, Windsor social services and
An inside look at the Emergency Operations Centre in Amherstburg during the nuclear training event.
PHOTO
Emergency Measures Ontario, among others. Additionally, it involved staffing and supporting an Emergency Workers Centre, with over 200 participants, all while maintaining regular emergency response capabilities.
The city of Windsor and the town of Essex both acted as host municipalities, with the goal of testing their emergency response plans, which Emily Bertram, emergency planning officer for the city of Windsor, said they worked hard to combine.
“Our roles as host municipalities are the same, but what we’ve done is, because we have a good working relationship with the town of Essex, we’ve said to each other, ‘what makes sense and what can we do to make it most efficient for both of us,’” Bertram said. “It’s been challenging, but it’s been amazing. It was all about figuring out how we can make this work best for all of us, and we’ve been able to do that.”
The partnership involved establishing a reception centre at Essex Fire Station #2, where monitoring and decontamination operations were conducted by Windsor Essex Emergency Social Services and OPG – Pickering Nuclear, respectively. For the exercise, approximately 25 to 30 actors participated in the process.
In Windsor, there was an evacuation centre, that also included monitoring and decontamination provided by the city of Windsor’s fire and hazmat team. Bertram noted that the most important takeaway from the exercise was the planning, coordination and collaboration involved.
“I would say 99 per cent of the things I learned, I learned before the start of the exercise through the planning process,” they said. “We have a relationship building, not only with EMO but with the Department of Energy, different ministries on both sides of the border. The relationship building has been huge.”
Participants identified the same aspect as both the greatest success and the most notable challenge: communication.
“We found that communications were challenging just due to the amount of input from all the different agencies,” Mio said. “It’s going to create some lessons learned for us.”
He stated that communications were handled through their Emergency Operations Centre. However, much of the exercise was
simultaneously managed through the provincial EOC, resulting in information coming from all directions. To handle this successfully, Mio emphasized the importance of having the right people in the room at the right time.
One of those key players was a representative from social services, an agency whose importance was echoed across all those participating.
“Social services played a huge part in this,” Mio said. “Having them in the room was important so that they knew how many people they could expect evacuating out of the area.” Overall, the exercise was a resounding success. Pillon stated that he firmly believes the exercise has greatly enhanced their readiness in the case of a real emergency and strengthened their EOC operations.
LEADERSHIP FORUM
By Chris Harrow, Director of Fire Services, Town of Minto and Township of Wellington North, Ontario
be reached at c.harrow@mintofiredept.on.ca.
Disasters depend on cooperation
Emergency management and fire service leadership are closely intertwined fields that focus on protecting communities from natural and human-made disasters. Both fields are tasked with ensuring an effective, coordinated response when emergencies occur. The communities served expect that help will be there when needed and that both agencies will be fully prepared to work seamlessly during all phases of the response.
Many small-town fire chiefs are also the community emergency managers and responsible for the overall emergency management plan. Other larger communities have a full-time emergency manager or even an emergency management team. Whichever the structure, there is no getting away from the fact the fire service will be heavily involved in an emergency situation.
This article is not meant to take away from any of the excellent work the emergency management staff do. Any place that is lucky to have the expertise of emergency management staff is very fortunate. Navigating the emergency management world and the surrounding politics and legislation involved is a monumental task. The response and overall managing of an incident is where the fire service contributes immensely to the situation.
One can argue the merits of climate change and the science behind it. However, there is no arguing the frequency and significance of large-scale disasters occurring in Canada. Many provinces are facing events not encountered in the current staff’s careers, meaning dealing with them is all new to the front-line managers and workers
The fire service needs to grasp onto emergency management and better learn to deal with situations involving many more agencies.
mitigating them. Municipalities are learning that training and preparedness are vital to successfully responding and recovering from these frequent disasters. It is imperative, and quite frankly the community deserves, that the fire services and emergency management work together however the arrangement to respond to any incident they may face.
It is vital that emergency management and fire service leaders understand they are coming from the same ideals and need to work together. The fire service needs to grasp onto emergency management and better learn to deal with situations involving many more agencies. The fact that fires are decreasing, and disasters are increasing shows that fire services need to adapt and be better prepared for their response. Emergency management and fire service leaders as mentioned above are responsible for similar values in their professions.
Strategic planning and decision making: Fire service leaders and emergency management leaders are responsible for planning their strategies for many items under their umbrellas. Staffing models, response protocols, and long term planning are just a few mentions. Decision making is completed every day, sometimes under immense pressure.
Incident command and control: Both professions are considered experts in this responsibility. Emergency management tends to do it on a much larger scale with more technical divisions, but fire operates under this system almost daily. All areas of response in a community will be looking at both professions
for leadership and guidance during an emergency when dealing with incident command.
Resource management: During an emergency, deploying and managing the proper resources is key to the success of the operation.
Community risk reduction and public education: Finally, both areas are legislated to deliver public education in their respective areas. Because of the natural crossover that occurs, it only makes sense to deliver it in a coordinated effort. Many areas compete against each other and the messaging ends diluted. Pooling resources helps the public digest it.
This list is not complete, there are many more areas of integration. There are so many similarities that ignoring them does not provide either area with any benefits. On the other hand, there are also some differences between emergency management and fire services. Fire services are not generally involved in recovery after an incident. Emergency management plans for and executes the plan after the emergency has been dealt with. Communities look to these plans to help recover quickly. Emergency managers usually deal with key local figures directly as well as out of town officials like province and federal response agencies. Fire services tend to stay local in their dealings with key government agencies.
Fire service leaders can be a part of the planning process and prepare their departments, or they can pretend it won’t happen and wait and see. It is not in most departments DNA to ignore and wait and see, so what are we waiting for?
Chris Harrow is the director of fire services for the Town of Minto and Township of Wellington North in Ontario. He can
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TRAINER’S CORNER
By Ed Brouwer
Ed Brouwer is the chief instructor for Canwest Fire in Osoyoos, B.C., a retired deputy chief training officer, fire warden, WUI instructor and ordained disaster-response chaplain. Contact aka-opa@hotmail.com.
Forget me not
Ernest Hemingway said, “Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name.” I think of this quote often, perhaps it is due to my present age (old) or the fact that I have been to a lot of funerals lately. Someday soon, perhaps in 40 or so years, there will be no one alive who has ever known me. I am presently writing out my memoirs. It may never be read by anyone, but it makes me feel good. Or perhaps some young firefighter, 40 years from now, will blow the dust off an old Fire Fighting in Canada magazine he comes across in the fire hall. There is a saying here among us old timers that goes like this, “I’ll try to remember not to forget.” And that brings me to this article: The Canadian fire service would benefit from adding a component to the training standards of all firefighters that focuses in detail on historical fire disasters in Canada where firefighters who attended either lost their lives or had their lives dramatically changed. How can we expect today’s firefighters to remember yesterday’s fallen firefighters if they have never heard of their Line of Duty Deaths?
There is part of a Bible verse that says, “This I bring to mind, and therefore I have hope…” What the writer was dealing with was overwhelming, but he reached back into his memories and “brought to mind” in the present moment that which brought clarity and understanding.
It is paramount to build up the memory banks of today’s firefighters, so they have those memories to draw from. Reflecting on yesterday’s loss may well bring today’s victory.
38 YEARS AGO
Horticultural Technologies background: This was a one story concrete block
building 1784 square meters in size that manufactured oasis floral foam, a hard foam-like substance used to hold floral arrangements in place and keep them moist. The process used phenol formaldehyde resin, freon gas and phenol sulphonic acid.
Fire incident: At 1:03 a.m. on March 6, 1987, the Kitchener Fire Department in Ontario responded to a multiple-alarm fire at Horticultural Technologies Inc. The fire progressed through the night into the next morning, with the night shift being relieved by the day shift. In total, approximately 69 fire fighters participated in this fire fight. Members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service and KitchenerWaterloo Regional Ambulance Service were also in attendance.
The first pumper to arrive was commanded by Captain Edward (John) Stahley, who reported the fire had almost entirely consumed the interior of the manufacturing area of the structure and was about to break through the roof. As the fire progressed, multiple alarms were called. All but two units in the city were committed to the fire.
For more than one hour, firefighters battled the fire, unaware of what chemicals were present. It took the plant manager one hour to arrive with a list of the chemicals in the building. He did not provide much information, other than to explain that they manufactured items for the floral industry, primarily something called oasis floral foam.
Firefighters managed to prevent the drums of phenol sulphonic acid from exploding by cooling them with water.
Firefighters reported that the smoke and flame was every colour of the rainbow. Strangely, the green dye used in the manufacturing process caused several firefighters to take on
Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name.”
— Ernest Hemingway
a green tinge as they were fighting the fire. Smoke and fumes forced the evacuation of about 12 employees from the nearby Overland Express. Ten men, including three employees of Overland Express and two police officers went to St. Mary’s Hospital complaining they felt a tightness in their chest and sore throats. They were treated for fume inhalation and released.
The Ontario Fire Commissioners Office reported that there were no significant injuries that resulted from the fire at the time, other than Stahley who attended the emergency room at Kitchener-Waterloo General Hospital for an examination because he had turned a greenish color. He was given a clean bill of health at that time. No further action was taken regarding this fire and all the reports completed by Kitchener Fire Department were filed away.
Tragically it didn’t take long before the firefighters who attended the Horticultural Technologies fire began to die. In May 1989, Dave Ferrede, age 32, went on sick leave and was subsequently diagnosed with primary liver cancer. He was dead a month later. Then, Stahley was diagnosed with primary liver cancer. He died in July 1990 at age 54. During the summer of 1989, Sgt. Lloyd MacKillop of the Waterloo Regional Police Service, who had been the supervising police officer at the fire, developed cancer. He died in May 1990 at age 48. Firefighter John Divo, who was also the local union president, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in his lungs and spine. He died in April 1990 at age 46. Around the same time, firefighter Henry Lecreux was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He died in February 1993 at age 52.
The following spring, William Misselbrook, who was the day-shift
platoon chief at the fire died of liver cancer. He was 64. Several other firefighters who attended the blaze have skin cancers, prostate cancer, Parkinson’s disease and many other health problems.
Information gained from the website for firefighters with Parkinson’s disease showed that 23 of the 69 firefighters called to the blaze have either cancer or Parkinson’s disease. It also reported that two Kitchener firefighters, a Waterloo Regional Police constable and a female paramedic all fathered or gave birth to children suffering from various types of birth defects since their attendance at the fire.
To recap: Dave Ferrede (32) died from Liver cancer; John Edward Stahley (54) died from liver cancer; Lloyd MacKillop (48) died from cancer; John Divo (46) died from cancer in his lungs and spine; Henry Lecreux (52) died with Parkinson’s disease; William Misselbrook (64) died of liver cancer.
I recently spoke with Peter McGough, who was good friends with many of the aforementioned firefighters. He and Divo were on the same platoon and station. McGough said this incident is always in the back of his mind as so many more have passed. It never seems to end. At least two more Kitchener people passed this year who were at that call.
Some Things
This incident can be used when talking about firefighting and risks of developing certain cancers, including respiratory, urinary/reproductive system, and malignant mesothelioma. Your members have the right to know. It used to be that the big thing we aimed for was that firefighters would go home after each call, but now consider they may go home but with a death sentence hanging over them.
32 YEARS AGO
On the morning of June 27, 1993, at 9:02 a.m., the Warwick Volunteer Fire Department in Quebec responded to a report of a barn fire. When they arrived at approximately 9:12 a.m., the fire department found a large cattle barn ablaze. During the size-up phase, a 4000-litre propane tank was found close to the barn involved. The relief vents were operating on the tank shooting flames over five meters into the air.
Firefighters began to apply water to the exposed LP tank in an effort to cool it. Suddenly, the tank split into two large pieces. The blast sent one of the pieces into an open field, while the other piece traveled over 45 meters, struck a fire engine, and continued another 230 meters where it struck a vehicle parked on the road trapping an occupant.
Firefighters René Desharnais, Martin Desrochers, Raynald
Dion and Raymond Michaud were killed. Three of them were killed while donning their gear when the fire engine was struck with part of the tank. The fourth firefighter died after being thrown approximately 45 meters when that tank part slammed into the engine. The blast also injured three firefighters as well as four civilians, including an occupant in the vehicle on the road.
These guys didn’t even get their gear on. Please, next time you are doing a practice involving BLEVE, use the above report to bring home the dangers; drive home the point that there are no routine fires.
28 YEARS AGO
Plastimet Recycling Plant background: This was an old smelting factory called Usarco (Mercury was used to break down some of the metals in the smelting process) that housed polyurethane foam and about 400 tons of derelict auto parts. Mercury was found at previous fires at this location. A huge cleanup was ordered to take place, however before this could happen, the owners created a plastic recycling plant in the factory known as Plastimet. This site contained about 4000 cubic tons of PVC. It included PVC products that were brought to this site for shredding and compacting into bales, such as plastic from automobiles, computer shells, plastic bottles, etc.
Fire incident: At approximately 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9, 1997, the Hamilton Fire Department was dispatched. During the fourday fire fight some 225 firefighters struggled to gain control.
At some point during the first night of the fire, every firefighter on duty in the City of Hamilton was at this fire. With 10,000 gallons of water every minute being pumped onto the fire large pools were forming due to the inability for the sewer system to handle such a large flow.
It was reported that water rose above the exhaust pipe of the first responding pump at Wellington and Simcoe Street. This caused a serious problem for firefighters since their feet and legs were being soaked with hydrochloric acid laced water as the water was coming up over top of their boots.
A heat inversion (warm air off the escarpment meeting cool air coming off the lake) trapped smoke over Hamilton causing a toxic fog. The Ministry of the Environment air tests showed a fivefold rise of benzenes and chlorobenzenes levels. An 11-block radius (650 residences and 35 businesses) of evacuations were ordered. A state of emergency was declared. By midday, the main blaze had been knocked down.
By early Friday evening, area hospitals had reported a large increase in admissions of people with respiratory problems including eight firefighters. By 11:00 p.m., 20 firefighters were sent to Hamilton General’s emergency ward. Symptoms included headaches, dizziness, nausea and burning skin, nickel-size sores on their faces, necks, hands, feet and legs.
The major fire was declared out on day four, but many spot fires continued. Firefighters with full PPE waded through the melted plastic and rubble with hand lines extinguishing spot fires.
In the end: 264 of Hamilton’s 400 firefighters had played some role at that scene; 86 per cent of all firefighters at the Plastimet fire reported some health effects; nearly 99 million liters of water were poured on the fire; over 4,000 tons of plastic burned for four days (spot fires burned for up to three weeks).
Firefighters had to decontaminate all the trucks that attended the
scene by wearing fully encapsulated suits. Trucks showed major corrosion, pits and rust, pieces from the radiators and the exhaust fell off some of the pumpers and ladder trucks.
More than 45 firefighters lost time from work and 160 sought medical attention. Due to the number of ill firefighters, the City of Hamilton and the Hamilton Professional Firefighters Association created a long-term medical surveillance program funded by the corporation for 25 years.
In a study of Ontario firefighters in March 2022, the Occupational Cancer Research Centre at Ontario Health found that when compared to other workers, firefighters had an increased risk of developing various cancers, notably testicular cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (Sritharan et al. 2022).
Your members have the right to know all information regarding their wellbeing. They should be trained in the use of all PPE not just bunker gear, remembering that PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment, which refers to any equipment worn by an individual to protect themself from potential hazard or environmental risks. It is designed to minimize exposure to chemicals, biological, and airborne risks. PPE may refer to gloves, goggles, masks, face shields, and/or safety footwear.
Please don’t let the death of yesterday’s firefighters be in vain. Honour them by remembering them. Honour them by using their deaths as life giving lessons for today’s recruits. Train them like their lives depend on it…because it does. 4-9-4 brothers and sisters.
GUEST COLUMN
By Vince MacKenzie, Fire Chief, Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L
Vince MacKenzie is 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.
Buckle up for a bumpy economic ride
This edition’s column is about the ever-challenging economy and how I see it affecting the volunteer fire service now and in the near future.
mostly foreign affected truck chassis and fire equipment to dramatically rise. The goods that are subject to tariffs and who is effected are ever evolving.
Now more than ever we must seek new solutions to providing fire protection to small town Canada on an ever-eroding landscape.
A volunteer and composite fire department owes its existence primarily due to economics. Over the past century, fire protection in smaller towns and villages have been provided but as volunteer agencies because of the need for cost efficiency. They exist to protect communities from fire out of necessity and often have their origins from past tragedy. These jurisdictions typically started with community minded people getting together and starting an organization to protect their towns and the people within them. Small towns had low call volumes and low financial resources unable to fund full-time personnel. The funding came from community fundraisers and ticket raffles that were the norm. Municipalities contributed the best they can but even in that respect, funding was always lower than larger communities. It’s a simple economy of scale, but the fire threat remains the same as a building burns and fire threatens in the exact same way in small towns as it does larger cities.
The news cycle in the past few months has been rife with stories of tariffs and a trade war that have been instigated by our neighbours to the south. It did not take too long for it to trickle into my fire department and, to be honest, I am quite concerned. Quite simply, tariffs would cause the costs of all our
10 to 15 per cent each year. Inflation is typically three to four per cent, so I can only ask how we will sustain this; what will be the new tipping point? As stated, volunteer departments have significantly lower budgets to provide services in their community as we cope with the exploding costs. That can translate into less service delivery efficiency for our fire departments. Many departments will have to rely further on regionalization and mutual aid; they will also keep equipment longer and with that will come higher maintenance costs.
There was an economic tipping point in every Canadian town that determined when volunteer fire protection started and continued on over generations, and eventually to where career fire protection is affordable and feasible as growth had dictated. The criteria on that will vary as political leaders and councils determine what their specific community needs are.
I fear that our fire service may be in for a rude economic awakening. The cost of living for the average Canadian is on the rise and that also translates to our profession. The cost of fire fighting is certainly constantly rising too. I have been gobsmacked with sticker shock at the rising costs. Everything from fire apparatus, SCBA, hose, protective equipment, and the list goes on has seen dramatic increases.
Towns with volunteer fire departments get their staffing at much reduced costs but unfortunately the price of new fire equipment does not enjoy the same discount. Buying a new average pumper can easily tip over to three quarters of a million to over a million dollars this year. This same vehicle was under half a million seven years ago. Recently, I know of even higher price tags tipping closer to $2 million. Vendors shared with us at a recent conference that pricing may increase
Chiefs and councils will be forced to sharpen their pencils and evaluate their planning for continued and improved service. As we all strive to update our equipment, the prices may soon be out of reach, forcing chiefs to prioritize and push back replacement schedules. The only danger in that is that if we continue to kick the can down the road, prices will surely become more expensive as we still must replace and update.
Never in my 40-year career have I seen prices rise so dramatically. Back in June 2011, I wrote a column in Volunteer Vision on performance NFPA standards and how fire departments could never be able to always keep current with standards around equipment. Also, how equipment standards never lead to prices going down and also how standards coming in usually lead to compliance going down. The NFPA standard cycle changes every five years or so with updates to current standards, and updating is good — I like the positive progression. I just wish there was a way to fund the improvement as simply and frequently. The rising costs simply prove my point made in that column even 14 years later. A now a turbulent economy on top of all that.
So buckle up folks, this is sure to be a new economic bumpy ride. Now more than ever we must seek new solutions to providing fire protection to small town Canada on an ever-eroding landscape. Soon be time for advocacy for federal government intervention, don’t you think?
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