The Campbell River Fire Department continues to grow partnership opportunities that benefit our community, the region, and the province. Through developing positive relationships across the province with various stakeholders and working closely with our local First Nation communities, Campbell River was selected as the 2022 Vancouver Island host community for enhanced wildfire training.
The training, called the Engine Boss course, is a two-day intensive training program including one day of online theory and one day of practical field exercises, with all costs covered by the Province. This program meets the Office of the Fire Commissioner training standards and BC Wildfire training requirements specific to Urban Interface (WUI) deployments under the Provincial Inter Agency Agreement (IAA). Topics include position overview, pre-deployment responsibilities, pre-dispatch preparation, incident responsibilities, administration and reporting, supervision, response assignments, tactics and safety, and demobilization.
Fire Chief Thomas Doherty says, “we are excited to be selected as the Vancouver Island host for this important training that will benefit our community, our First Nation partners and the Region, and are pleased that an estimated 60 firefighters and close to 20 fire apparatus will visit our community on April 9, to participate.”
The City of Campbell River Fire Department together with Oyster River Fire Department, BC Wildfire, Office of the Fire Commissioner, and the We Wai Kai First Nation have been working together on the logistics of the course to include practical exercises in some of the community’s medium to high-risk interface neighbourhoods. The main staging location for the course is at the BC Wildfire Quinsam Base on Nursery Rd in Campbell River.
This opportunity comes on the heels of a recent UBCM Grant approval for FireSmart™ initiatives, received by the City and We Wai Kai First Nation.
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Contact: Thomas Doherty, Fire Chief | 250-286-6266 | thomas.doherty@campbellriver.ca
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