Sense of purpose makes a firefighter, Vaughan's new fire tower trains them

Recruits said most challenging simulation is search and rescue exercise

Yorkreigon.com
November 30, 2018
Alieen Zangouei

Wearing 50lbs. of firefighting gear I’m struggling to stand up straight as my 115 lbs. body probably should have crashed to the ground as soon as I put it on.

My turn to embark on search and rescue training inside Vaughan’s new $1.2-million fire tower is nearing; the goal is to find the dummy victim and drag it to safety.

As I enter, the room is engulfed in dark black heavy smoke, but my personal breathing apparatus is providing me with fresh oxygen.

The mask makes me claustrophobic and my breathing sounds like an out-of-breath Dark Vader.

Captain Ken Hamilton of Vaughan Fire speaks clearly through his mask and tells me we’re at the top of the stairs.

Recruit David Falconi, 27, said wearing the mask used to make him feel claustrophobic too, but you get used to it.

“Is the search and rescue in pitch black smoke hard for you too like it is for me,” I ask him.

“Yes,” Falconi said he finds it to be the most challenging training exercise, but he trusts his gear and trusts his training.

I wonder where recruit Troy Orrick is? He was behind us earlier, at least I think he was but it’s too dark to tell.

Hamilton turns on his thermal imaging camera and shows me that Orrick is several feet behind us.

“Give us a wave,” Hamilton tells Orrick, and he waves at us.

I’m relieved to see the 25-year-old is okay, then I remember the first thing I was told before entering the tower -- it’s a closely controlled environment and no one gets hurt.

But why is Orrick so far back, I mean this is my first time and I’m keeping up with the big guys.

Hamilton interrupts my thoughts saying, “He stayed behind where there is a door, an exit point, which helps navigate a way out of a burning building.”

Whoa, makes sense.

I don’t know which part of what Hamilton said dumbfounds me more, Orrick staying behind for our safety, or that firefighters work in burning buildings.

New fire tower

Deputy Fire Chief Grant Moffatt tells me that before the fire tower was built at the Joint Operations Centre on Rutherford Road, Vaughan’s firefighters used rented facilities in other municipalities to train.

Now, they can be trained on site and are ready to be dispatched to a call anytime.

Before I entered the tower with a group of recruits, I had to gear up.

Recruit Sheri Fisher, 41, helped.

She unbuckled, tightened, re-buckled, adjusted all my upper-body gear so fast, I figure she’s done it in her sleep.

Fisher intimidated me and quickly extinguished my initial thought that recruits are beginners.

These recruits know their stuff, so you can’t really tell the difference between who’s training and who’s not.

Standing at about five-foot-seven, with a slim build, Fisher has been trained in all aspects of firefighting, including auto extraction which consists of a 100 lbs., a tool called 'Jaws of Life', a tool that weighs 270 more times than my iPhone 6 plus, which is my main reporting tool.

"For all the time that I have been here, I have not been treated differently than any of the other recruits... we all have the same job to do," Fisher said.

"When we come here as recruits, we are treated as recruits whether male or female, and when we hit the firetrucks, we are firefighters male or female."

It makes me grateful there is an equal opportunity to pursue your purpose, and Fisher is exactly where she wants to be pursuing hers.

"I have been given an opportunity to contribute positively," she said.

‘Pride and honour’

Exiting the smoky fire tower, exhausted, I lay the dummy victim down, and my eyes open to the light, literally and metaphorically speaking.

My reward for all this is that I get to take my firefighting gear off (finally), but not before I kneel to my knees in exhaustion and struggle to stay up.

“Don’t fall, don’t fall, not in front of the captain, no not him!” I think.

My hands tremble as they lift water to my mouth.

I take a sip, then another, then I think ‘forget composure’ and I chug the rest of my water.

I strip off the gear in less than a minute, four times quicker than it took me to get it all on.

Thirty minutes ago, I simply thought firefighters drive around in cool firetrucks, look badass in their cool uniforms (I still think this) and get to use awesome tools.

But I realize if it weren’t for their risks, who would run into a fire while others flee?

Me? No, I’m a news reporter.

Recruit training began in September and in January, recruits will complete training and be placed into their respective stations as firefighters.

"Pride and honour," the recruits said are the words to describe their journey.

"We can actually think of a lot words," they laughed.

"Success," Falconi said.