You can never really be certain what you will face.
Certainly, firefighters responding to a call are given all of the information that is available regarding the situation they are entering. But sometimes, an emergency will involve particular circumstances that can make their job much more difficult.
Over the past few months, the Kipling Fire Department has taken steps to help its members deal with some of the issues that they might encounter.
As Fire Chief Ken Nordal explains, “We’ve just acquired a Ladder Truck out of BC. This is needed because we now have apartment blocks in Kipling. So, we have to prepare for the possibility that we might have to fight a fire on the top floor of a three-story building.
The department also now has two sets of Vehicle Rescue Tools, with two trucks that are set up to do vehicle extrication.
As well, we’ve just ordered a new Thermal Imaging Camera that we hope to have here soon.
The need for this became apparent after we responded to a nighttime accident where individuals had been ejected from the vehicle. We had to spend a fair amount of time looking for these people. If we’d had the camera, we could have scanned the area, and the heat signature would have shown up.
A large portion of the money for that camera was donated by Kingston Midstream…they do a lot to give back to various communities.
It’s not likely that having the camera would have changed the outcome at that particular accident scene. But, it might make all the difference next time.”
Nordal adds that members of the department also take part in training sessions designed to help them respond effectively to specific situations.
“We’ve held a number of training sessions over the years, relating to things such as STARS landing and vehicle extrications.
Last spring, we had Grain Rescue Training here in Kipling. We felt it would be a good idea to organize a session about this, because of all of the large grain bins and trucks that are used now, with grain inside might not be dry.
One of our members, Kevin Puffalt, felt very strongly that this type of training was needed. We saw that the course was available and we decided to do it.
Members with the Fire Departments in Tribune and Glenavon came to take part in that training session. The danger of falling into grain is something that a lot of people never think of, especially when they’re busy with harvest.
So, this training session proved to be an eye-opener for a lot of people.”
