Wednesday, June 2, 2010

I’ve been away from the blog for a couple of days while I’ve been working in Nova Scotia in advance of FDIC Atlantic this weekend in beautiful Wolfville in the Annapolis Valley.

It’s cold and wet here on Cape Breton Island, a bit of a reprieve from the high temps in southwestern Ontario. And that means few forest fires here in God’s country, but yesterday we could smell smoke in town, presumably from the wildland fires in Quebec where rain yesterday helped to wet things but 38 fires continue to burn. Read more here.

-

I got the blurb below in an e-mail Tuesday from the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and then from a couple of fire officers who thought it relevant enough to forward:

Thursday, May 27, 2010

It’s all about the doors. The new fire station in Whitchurch-Stoufville is retiring Chief Chris Powers’ legacy to the community, and a fine fire station it is – certainly among the nicest in Canada with a gourmet kitchen, an enormous community room, a good-sized workout room and dorms for men and women. But everyone talks about the doors.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Interesting couple of days last week at the Ottawa FIRE (Firefighting, Instruction, Research, Engineering) Symposium.

The impressive, week-long affair featured world-renowned speakers and incredible science-of-fire workshops put on the by National Research Council.

May 20, 2010

I'm in Ottawa this week, at the FIRE 2010 Symposium, where in this case FIRE is an acronym for Firefighting, Instruction, Research and Engineering. It is lunchtime on day one, and I just commented to my former colleague David Ross (Chief Health & Safety Officer, Toronto Fire Services) that I have rarely, if ever, been in a room with such a rich concentration of expertise.  There are fire officers, academics and fire protection industry professionals here from Canada, the U.S., Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, China, Australia, Croatia, Germany, the UK, Ireland and I hope I haven't left anyone out. This is going to be a fun week!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Turns out it was a volunteer firefighter – it figures! – from Langley, B.C., who used his private helicopter to find the fire truck stolen on Saturday from the East Gate Fire Department.

An e-mail from Penticton Fire Chief Wayne Williams to the members of the Fire Chiefs Association of B.C. today explains what happened:

“Gordon Blad from East Gate Fire phoned last night and advised they have located the missing vehicle. An off duty firefighter from Langley who owns a helicopter donated his time and helicopter, flew up and took one of the firefighters up to scout the forestry roads. They did not locate it on that trip. On the way home the Langley firefighter noticed it located high in a gravel pit out by Manning Park. The vehicle had been stripped of all valuable metal; they cut off all the brass fittings from the fire hoses.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

I was looking for news stories this morning – and there are plenty of them from the landslide in Montreal that swallowed a house and its residents to the firing of the fire marshal in Nunavut, for doing his job – and came across a link to a report that says the size of firefighting crews has a substantial effect on the fire service’s ability to protect lives and save property.

Interesting news day today. A sinkhole in Montreal swallowed a car full of people, a fire truck was stolen in B.C. and six firefighters were hurt in a controlled burn in Alberta. The planets must be aligned strangely, or something. You can see all three news stories here.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Finally coming up for air after the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs conference and trade show in Toronto this week.

The highlights?