Any northern resident with aspirations of becoming a firefighter in the Thompson area might be getting their shot in the not-too-distant future.
Recently, members of both Thompson Fire & Emergency Services (TFES) and Thompson 2020 said they are in the early stages of developing a program that could offer training right here in the Hub of the North, which would spare any potential applicants from having to move to get their certification.
According to Thompson 2020 representative Danielle Fifield, who is also a fully certified paramedic in Ontario, applying to become a member of TFES is tricky in general since all its members require double certification.
“There’s only a few places in the province where you need fire and paramedic training in order to work. Thompson is one of those places,” she said. “I’m learning all this stuff because I can’t work as a paramedic here, because you have to be a firefighter as well.”
TFES fire chief Mike Bourgon backed up this claim, saying that the closest available option for anyone who wants to receive firefighter and paramedic certification simultaneously is the Manitoba Emergency Services College in Brandon.
“There’s a lot of people I know in the community who have dreamt of being firefighters. That’s what they want to do. That’s where their heart is,” he said. “But it’s difficult for them to go to Brandon and potentially leave their families for a year.”
In order to remove this geographical barrier for any future TFES applicants, both Fifield and Bourgon are in talks to establish a similar dual training program here in Thompson, with groups like the Office of the Fire Commissioner providing administrative support.
“So the intent would be to take the existing course in Brandon and develop it so that it’s unique to the north and our needs,” said Bourgon.
While they still need to finalize a lot of the finer details, like funding, Bourgon and Fifield are hoping to put together a roughly year-long program for September 2020 that could potentially accommodate 16 applicants.
On top of recruiting youth right out of high school, the TFES fire chief believes that this program would also be perfect for anyone looking for a career change, including those who recently got laid off a Vale.
“That’s one of the main initiatives that got this project going, because there is a lot of skilled people in Thompson that I’m sure would love to become firefighter-paramedics,” he said.
Anyone interested in learning more about this training course can contact Bourgon by calling the city fire hall at 204-677-7916.
