CBM, EG and Georgina Fire partnership rolls out first safety message

yorkregion.com
Aug. 31, 2017
By Heidi Riedner

Sparky the fire dog will stop, drop and roll (continuously) on a Ready-Mix truck near you after a joint partnership between CBM and the Georgina and East Gwillimbury fire departments unveiled the first rolling safety message of its kind in Ontario.

“This is a first for Ontario and we hope to continue the relationship with Ready-Mix and have lots of different safety messages on vehicles, but for today this is the start of those stages,” East Gwillimbury fire Chief Phil Dawson said at CBM’s St. Mary’s cement plant in Sutton Aug. 29.

Three years in the making since the departments first approached the building materials division of the company operating more than 450 Ready-Mix trucks out of 40 plants, the Sparky logo and message of stop, drop and roll was put on the rolling barrel of a Ready-Mix truck in a fitting advertisement of the important safety message.

“We’re happy to get this important safety message out and partner with the towns of Georgina and East Gwillimbury,” said Barb Clancey, CBM’s GTA North operations manager.

Georgina Mayor Margaret Quirk appreciated the medium of the message, saying she “loved the concept,” pointing out the importance of being prepared for any type of emergency.

East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson agreed.

“Messaging is so important, and the fact that there are three partnerships here speaks volumes about our communities. For (CBM) to step up and be supportive of our communities is wonderful, and our two communities working together on this initiative really shows the difference you can make when you try to work together."

“It’s been a long road, but with a great outcome,” Dawson said.

In the fire service, education is the first line of defence, prevention and enforcement is line two, and suppression is line three, Dawson explained.

“Suppression, or the reactive part, is still important. You need firefighters and fire trucks to go to calls, but we focus on the pro-activeness of education and prevention. Preventing injuries before they happen is our goal, and this is yet another example in a smorgasbord menu of things that our people in prevention and education are doing.”