Vaughan firefighters offer coffee talk to residents on cold Friday

Neighbours get chance to learn fire safety, more about fire service

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 6, 2018
Tim Kelly

What better way to escape the cold than to warm up with a hot coffee and your friendly neighbourhood firefighter.

That’s what plenty of Vaughan residents did last Friday morning as they took advantage of a McDonald’s meet-and-greet Coffee With a Firefighter event at 3140 Rutherford Road across from Vaughan Mills.

That’s what plenty of Vaughan residents did last Friday morning as they took advantage of a McDonald’s meet-and-greet Coffee With a Firefighter event at 3140 Rutherford Road across from Vaughan Mills.

Mom and dad could enjoy coffee, the kids could have a drink of their beverage of choice and wear a plastic fire hat and grab a colouring book, and, most important, all could chat fire safety with a local member of Vaughan Fire and Rescue.

The Davies family including father Femi, mom Tomiwa, daughter Lola, 14, and son, Tope, 10, enjoyed talking to firefighters.

In fact, Tope is thinking of becoming one himself one day.

“I want to help other people and keep people safe,” he said.

That's just fine with his mom.

“I would love one of my children to be a firefighter,” she said. “Being a firefighter is a great job, they are such nice people,” she said.

Dad Femi agreed.

“I wish my son could be a firefighter. Me, I’m too old to be a firefighter,” laughed the 50-year-old.

Coffee With a Firefighter started as an idea in the United States, said Vaughan Deputy Fire Chief Deryn Rizzi, as Coffee With a Cop. She said she and Captain Andre Clafton spoke at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre last year to a delegation of McDonald’s owner-operators who are interested in doing a national launch of Coffee With a Firefighter.

“When we’re on an emergency incident it’s not the ideal time to be building relationships, because people are in an emergency situation or crisis situation so we wanted to do it in an informal space where people can sit down and just have a conversation with people,” said Rizzi.

Chief Larry Bentley added, “We get a lot of positive feedback from citizens about the work their firefighters do. That’s very rewarding to us that we hear that about our staff.”

And he said he reminded people that they needed to have smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and to make sure they get out and stay out once their alarm goes off.

Chris Betzner, an acting captain who has been with the Vaughan service since 2009, said the demands of education, physical fitness and maintaining a balanced work life with a balanced home life, are part of what goes into the job of firefighting.

“It’s a fabulous job, it’s the best job in the world, but you still have people you have to go home to. One of the things we pride ourselves on is that everyone goes home,” he said.

Betzner said in firefighting, “the training never stops. The day you stop training is the day you should retire. Many senior guys I’ve worked with have explained that to me.”

He also said that now that he is an acting captain, “you’re not just looking out for yourself, you’re looking out for the crew that you’re supervising.”