300 volunteer firefighters participate in Saskatchewan fire school

Over 300 volunteer firefighters attended the Saskatchewan Volunteer Firefighter Association (SVFFA) spring fire school. It covers everything from beginner fire training, to hazardous material accidents and vehicle extraction.

“I know of departments that do four calls a year, be it fire, medical or extraction.  I also know of departments like my own, we do 110 calls a year,” SVFFA president Doug Lapchuck said.

“Even if you’re not a busy hall, you still need the training and be able to show competency.”

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READ MORE: Community fire departments in need of volunteers

A new course added this year was officer training. It’s meant to help new fire chiefs run their department.

“That’s a great one, because if all of a sudden you’re thrown into the mix as a fire chief, there is a lot of different things you have to look at.  The leadership in your department, recruitment, (looking at) your training process, and branding your fire department in your small community,” White City Fire Department Chief Randy Schulz said.

There are more than 65-hundred volunteer firefighters in Saskatchewan who fight more than 90 per cent of all fires in the province.

Koltyn Schentag has been a volunteer firefighter for years at the Stockholm Volunteer Fire Department. He has never experience some of the mock training like the school bus extraction in a real life scenario.

These courses are giving the confidence he needs to the job right.

“They made it all real life like, they had people coming off from the sides and we had to keep them out of the scene, (there were) screaming parents,” Schentag said.

“I’m a lot more comfortable if I have to go to a call now, doing this training than if I would not have taken it.”

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He hopes to come to future fire schools to keep his skills up to date. He hopes to be an example for emerging firefighters to look up to.

“All the fire fighters out there, they volunteer a lot of time out of their day, and families, pretty much to save people’s lives and help out the community,” Shentag said.