Volunteer team claims firefighting victory

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Dedication and hard work have paid off for members of the all-volunteer fire department in Black Lake.

The squad won the prestigious National Aboriginal Fire Fighting Competition - something no other team from western Canada has accomplished.

Richard Kent, fire prevention officer for the Prince Albert Grand Council, credits the pride and dedication of the Black Lake firefighters for the win.

But it didn't come until after two years of rigorous training and improvements.

"When I went up there for the first time they had no fire hall and their truck was sitting outside under six feet of snow," he said. "I'm very proud of them. Our Black Lake guys have shown that they know what to do. They're the best in Canada."

The national award was won in Winnipeg on Aug. 29 after two days of competition. It comes after Black Lake won the Saskatchewan competition a few weeks earlier - no minor feat in itself - and earned the right to make the trip to the nationals.

Kent is responsible for training fire crews in 23 PAGC communities around Prince Albert and in the north.

The 11-year veteran of the Prince Albert fire department began working with the Grand Council two years ago and immediately set about to train the firefighters in each community.

Kent began by giving each squad a crash course in fire fighting techniques. Things like how to operate a pumper truck and how to perform an elementary rescue.

He then backtracked to the finer points of the 19-module training program. Once a firefighter has that completed, he or she earns a Level 1 rating.

The training program has meant lots of travel and there is no road to the community of 1,500 so everything must be flown in. A trip to Black Lake costs approximately $1,400 every time Kent goes for some training, and if he brings in a guest instructor the cost increases.

But it's all been worth it, he says, now that the firefighters have proved the commitment is working.

"I did some training up there, and obviously it worked," Kent said of the Black Lake crew. "We did a lot of training in the past two years and it really shows that they continued training after I was gone."

Indeed, Kent said the team trained in a local school yard so regularly local children would race out to watch them when the alarm went off, and many would be waiting there when the crew arrived.

The national competition was judged by veteran Winnipeg firefighters, who put teams from throughout Canada through their paces in realistic fire scenarios.

The teams didn't find out what kind of fire situation they would face until the day before their turn to compete.

"So they really have to know their equipment inside and out," Kent said. "They have to know all there is to know about firefighting."

Kent said the other teams from western Canada were very enthusiastic about Black Lake's win.

"This is the first time that not only Saskatchewan has won the trophy, but that the trophy's been in the western side of Canada," he said.

"The other western teams were slapping their backs and congratulating them and thanking them."

The team from Black Lake accepted their honor at a closing banquet at the national competition without even any uniforms, Kent said. "But to my way of thinking, it's not how you look, it's how much heart you have."

Despite that, the community of Black Lake is planning to honor their squad with a banquet of its own - and brand new uniforms will be presented to the members then, Kent said, along with shoulder patches that he had made in Prince Albert.

The example the fire department has set is already starting to set in with the local children, according to Kent.

"The last time I was up there I had kids coming up to me and asking if they could join the fire department," he said. "Before it was kind of a struggle to find people to join the fire department. Now they're going to have to pick and choose."