The North Cowichan on-call fire department is looking to add members to their ranks.
Chemainus Hall Chief Paul Windsor says he’s got around 20 members right now, but in an ideal world, he would add another ten people to the roster. He says his department is pretty busy responding to a variety of calls.
“There’s four fire halls within North Cowichan,” says Windsor. “This hall here in Chemainus, we do approximately 270 calls per year. That consists of structure fires, motor vehicle incidents, medical aid calls, as well as rescue calls of rope rescue and trail calls.”
The crew is paid, on-call, and the first crew of its kind to have a collective bargaining agreement in place for their staff. Chemainus’ crew trains weekly on Thursday nights and operates on a rotating duty crew shift schedule on weekends, and no formal schedule during the week. Any extra training is provided and paid for, that includes work alongside BC Wildfire come the summer months.
Related: North Cowichan comes to first-of-its-kind collective agreement with its firefighters
“There is an opportunity for members of our department to go on deployment with BC Wildfire,” says Windsor. “That’s usually a two-week deployment where the big fires are. We’ll send an engine or a structure protection crew out.”
He says it’s a great way to get into the industry for those considering a career in firefighting.
“By the time you’re done you’re going to be a fully certified firefighter as well as first responder,” he says. “If you’re looking at a career in firefighting it’s the best way to start.”
A key part of working in firefighting is the culture around the hall. Windsor says they put a lot of work into building a family environment.
“We really promote the whole family thing here and camaraderie,” he says. “We’ll do movie nights. If there’s a big storm or sometimes we’ll just have crew come down and hang out because there’s lots of calls.”
As for who they’re looking for he says they’re hoping for someone who likes to work in a team and wants to serve the community.
“Definitely we’re looking for individuals with the drive to serve the community that are looking for challenge,” says Windsor. “This is definitely a very challenging career, but rewarding.”
More information on how to apply can be found on the North Cowichan website.
