Kinistin firefighter's bravery recognized

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The Kinistin volunteer fire fighters recognized one of their own during the Nakawe Language Festival held on April 20.

David Scott was acknowledged by Kinistin Fire Chief Stacy Scott for saving a local resident from a burning building earlier this year.

One evening in February, David received a fire call at his home and immediately jumped into action. Upon arriving at the scene, he recalled performing an initial investigation to determine if there was a fire and to what extent it had progressed.

"I went in to have a look inside the house," he recalled. "That's when I saw (the victim) lying on his bed next to the fire."

According to David, the victim lay unconscious amid the flames. It was the fast work of David and a fellow firefighter that saved the life of the individual.

Fortunately, the victim was removed from the fire and recovered without any serious effects.

"He's fine. Everything is good. There were no injuries to him and he didn't sustain smoke inhalation or anything".

David said the impact of what he had done did not occur to him until the days following the event.

"It took a few days to hit me that I saved someone's life, but afterward I felt pretty good about it. I felt happy that nobody was hurt and felt proud that I had the ability to go in and help him out without having to worry about myself or anyone else. The training we take to be a firefighter really paid off at that time."

While the entire community is appreciative of the valiant effort put forth by their local firefighter, the local fire chief could not be more pleased.

"I'm glad he's by my side. We communicate very well and I think that's what makes us responsible and good firefighters."

"Without my crew I wouldn't have been able to do that," David said. "It's not just me, it's the whole crew that chips in ... I feel really good about the community appreciating what we've done, not just myself, but the whole crew."

Throughout the course of an average year, the Kinistin Fire Department receives up to seven fire calls, however this was the first time in David's three years as a member of the department that he was called to respond to a residential fire. The bulk of the calls the crew have responded to have been grass fires, but since January of this year, they've received and responded to five fires, two of which were house fires within the community.

"It was all part of the job and doing what needs to be done," David confided modestly. "You don't want this to happen to anyone, but it has certainly changed my perspective. I'm not scared to jump into any situation now. I've lost the hesitance because I now have confidence in myself."