Bradford’s newest firefighters proved their passion for the job burns brightly.
Bradford West Gwillimbury Fire and Emergency Services held a graduation ceremony at Station No. 1 in Bradford on Friday evening to celebrate the eight most recent recruits to complete the service’s in-house six-week training program and officially become full-time firefighters ready to report for duty on Monday.
Fire Chief Brent Thomas said he was “thrilled” to see dozens of people attend the ceremony, estimating all the full-time staff were present.
“It warms my heart,” he said. “To have our whole department come out to be supportive and to welcome them, you just can’t beat that.”
In addition to 12 recruits from July, the service now has 40 full-time members, meaning two full crews.
“It’s fantastic,” Thomas said. “It gives a better level of service than we could before. Our community is big enough that we respond to multiple calls at the same time concurrently, so having two full crews ready to do that is very effective.”
He pointed to a recent example in Bond Head, where two houses that were under construction caught fire and both crews were able to respond simultaneously to extinguish the fire before it could spread.
“We value our volunteer firefighters and we can’t live and work without them,” the chief said, but added those volunteers also need time to get to the station when called, and having two crews that “can respond immediately to an emergency” means the community has “better protection.”
While all the recruits were certified through the National Fire Protection Association, Thomas explained they still needed to complete the local training to ensure everyone was following the same procedures and working in sync.
As a result of being so close to Highway 400 and many county roads, the in-house course provides “in-depth” training on auto extrication and first aid, and also includes water and ice rescue, as well as special training for fighting fires in high-rise and multi-unit buildings.
“We typically do our firefighting from inside the building. That’s a high-heat environment,” Thomas said.
As a result of that heat, the thin metal channels of drop ceilings frequently used in apartment and office buildings can melt, causing the panels to drop, and with them come all sorts of wires, according to the chief.
“They can trap our fire fighters. So, we do what we call firefighter survival training,” he said.
That training ensures firefighters know how to avoid getting trapped and how to become free if they do become trapped.
Deputy Fire Chief Steve Hall acted as MC and opened the ceremony by noting how happy he and the chief were to be marking the occasion, with both praising the recruits for passing the milestone and welcoming them to the team.
Congratulations were also provided by York-Simcoe MP Scot Davidson and Bradford Mayor James Leduc, who extended “heartfelt congratulations” to all the graduates on behalf of council and noted the importance of “celebrating the accomplishments of the fire service,” thanking them all for “the level of dedication, integrity and courage (they) provide to our community.”
The eight recruits recognized at the ceremony were:
- Christopher Martinez — No. 77
- Travis Steeves — No. 96
- Pat Pogwizd — No. 97
- Corey Vandenburg — No. 98
- Joshua Parsons — No. 99
- Joshua Doyle — No. 100
- James Furber — No. 101
- Will Gilroy — No. 102
Recognition was also given to George Edwards on becoming captain, and to both Paul Hecking and Ian Poot on officially becoming training officers, a role they had been filling in an acting capacity.
