聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The 24 members of Carlyle Fire & Rescue do more than put out fires. The department's duties have expanded beyond extinguishing grass and structure fires to include responding to motor vehicle collisions, dealing with situations involving hazardous materials, snowmobile rescues and aquatic rescues throughout the year-including cold water rescues-which often require specialized suits and equipment.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's a bit of a misconception that we only respond to grass fires and house fires,鈥� says Fire Captain Rob Klassen, a 16-year-veteran of the department. 鈥淭here are motor vehicle collisions, some cold water calls and we had a guy trapped in a grain bin, so we did that call. We really do a little bit of everything.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Klassen says that although the department responds to fires, the number of those calls pale in comparison to the number of motor vehicle collisions Carlyle Fire & Rescue covers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hose calls stay with you,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I joined (the fire department) 16 years ago, our big thing was grass fires. Now I'd say 80 percent of our calls are motor vehicle collisions, which I suppose isn't surprising in an area that's so busy.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淓ven though things are a bit slower around here now, the number of motor vehicle calls hasn't decreased.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When asked, Klassen says these are his least favourite calls as an emergency responder.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淣obody likes to go to the collision calls,鈥� says Klassen. 鈥淏ecause usually somebody's hurt. Don't get me wrong, when we get there and get someone out and to EMS in a timely fashion, that's what we're there to do, and that's extremely rewarding.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's rewarding when these calls work out, but when they don't...there's more of them than people realize.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he only drawback living in a small town and serving with the fire department is that typically, you know the person (involved in the collision) or someone you work with knows them. All of our calls are rewarding, because that's what we're there to do, but some are easier than others.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Klassen says the grass fires are by far the easiest calls for him, emotionally.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n a call like a grass fire, nobody's getting hurt and typically, there's no property damage,鈥� he says.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽Although local firefighters say that seatbelts and smoke alarms are 鈥渓iterally, lifesavers,鈥� when situations progress beyond the preventative, Carlyle Fire & Rescue has an arsenal of equipment to respond to a range of emergency calls. The department currently has two pumper trucks, a thermal imaging camera which is used to detect 鈥渉ot spots鈥� in structure fires, a rescue truck which carries the jaws of life and other tools used in assisting at motor vehicle collisions, a water tanker, a command unit that contains additional tools, a rapid response unit-which is a one-ton truck with a 300-gallon tank and pump-and a rescue trailer and rescue sled, which is used for snowmobile rescues.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, this specialized equipment requires members of the department to commit to ongoing training and practice.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e do train on a regular basis,鈥� says Klassen. 鈥淲e're not just a bunch of guys doing it by the seat of our pants. It's a large commitment-with practice times and our regular meetings. But we need to be able to respond to calls 365 days a year, seven days a week. And what we do, we take very seriously.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淓ven though we're a paid on-call department, when we train, we do it for a lot of hours out of our personal time. But that's so we're better able to serve our community. It's not something we take lightly.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Recently, 10 members of the squad-Brock Andrew, Adam Bee, Eric Brown, John Brownlee,聽 Taylor Hoey, Rob Klassen, Michelle Orsted, Jordan Simmons, Chris Spry and Travis Van Meer- attended cold-water rescue training and practice at the Merit Ford dugout near Carlyle.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The session started with a reminder about safety on the ice-especially, wearing helmets.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t really is about safety first,鈥� says Klassen. 鈥淲e have to make sure we're protected ourselves, because if we put ourselves at risk, then we can't do our job-which is helping other people.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e always have two of our members outside ready to go in during a structure fire as part of a rescue team, for the same reason. If we're at risk, we can't help other people.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The cold-water rescue drill begins with one member-wearing a tether-making his way out to the centre of the frozen dugout with a chainsaw. As he begins cutting a hole in the ice-which is frozen a foot deep-two other firefighters soon join him using an ice saw and begin cutting a circular hole.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Once this wet and frigid stage is set, members take turns immersing themselves in the freezing water (as victims in need of rescue) and learning-and repeatedly practicing-cold water rescue techniques.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If an individual is trapped in the water and is conscious and able to move, the first thing a firefighter will do is toss them a throw bag, which is a bag packed with nylon rope which is then used as a tether. The bag is easy to grip and enables firefighters to quickly pull the victim out of the water and safely to shore.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's our first line of defence,鈥� says Klassen. 鈥淎nd if they're able, it allows us to get someone out of the water and onto shore as quickly as possible. Once we get them to shore, we wrap them in blankets and warm them up gradually. We absolutely don't put them in a hot vehicle cab right away. It's like frostbite, when you're dealing with someone with hypothermia. You've got to warm them up gradually.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Even the tossing technique is part of the firefighters' specialized training. 鈥淵ou've only got one chance with these bags,鈥� says Klassen. 鈥淲e've got two bags-one with 50 feet of rope and the second聽 with 100 feet. But they take a long time to re-pack, so there's that. And your time is limited. You want to get that person out of the water as fast as you can. I always tell our members to aim beyond the person when you're throwing the bag to them. If you throw short, then the problem's obvious. But if it's a bit behind them, it gives them some leeway as far as them being able to grab it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The second cold-water rescue technique involves a firefighter entering the icy pool and tethering the victim to their back, while they are pulled to safety, while the third involves members of the fire department taking a rescue sled to the edge of the opening of the ice and using a precise technique to get the victim out of the water to safety.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he advantage of the sled is that it floats,鈥� says Klassen. 鈥淪o we can take it right to the edge of the ice and if the ice cracks and the water opens up even more, the sled floats.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The sled is fitted with a pontoon-like bottom and like all of the equipment the fire department utlizes, combines the skills of the firefighters and hours of practice drills by them to make it effective.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For all parts of the cold-water rescue exercise, six of the firefighters are wearing cold-water rescue suits, some of which have a spring-loaded steel spike in the sleeves, that will enable the wearer to 鈥済rab鈥� the ice and pull themselves out of a body of water unassisted-sometimes with a person tethered to their back.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Two additional, older cold-water suits are worn by firefighters on shore. Although they have a few tears, equipment is utilized as long as possible.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淓quipment and tools are so expensive,鈥� says Klassen. 鈥淔or example, to buy new breathing apparatuses, you'd have to spend $60,000, which is a fair chunk of change. Six of our cold-water suits we can use on a call. And two of our suits are only used for training now.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e're always fundraising for new equipment and we're also in the process of drawing up plans for a new firehall-someday.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Tax-deductible donations to Carlyle Fire & Rescue can be made at the Town of Carlyle's office, but Klassen says the fire department is also actively looking for new members.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e're always looking for new members,鈥� he says. 鈥淓specially members who live and work in town. A lot of our members work in the oil patch, so Monday to Friday, they may be working out of town if a call comes in.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Klassen says serving as a firefighter is both exhilarating and rewarding.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here is聽 a rush and that's the thing that kind of drew me to it at first,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut the biggest rush and the most satisfaction comes from helping my community and assisting people when they're at their lowest.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For information on becoming a member of Carlyle Fire & Rescue, contact Fire Chief Don Van Meer or Deputy Chiefs John Brownlee, Michelle Orsted, or Travis Van Meer. The fire department also invites those interested in becoming a member to attend a meeting to find out more. Meetings are the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, 7:30 p.m., at the Carlyle Fire Hall, 210-7th Street West.
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