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Comment: February 2010

Our mandate here at Fire Fighting in Canada is to provide news, training tips, lessons learned, in-depth analysis and opinions on pertinent issues for you, our readers. To do that, we need to stay current – keep up with trends and changes in the fire service – and make sure our writers and columnists are life-long learners who embrace progress.

To that end, we’ve expanded our stable of writers for 2010 with the addition of a handful of columnists whose extensive fire service backgrounds, grip on today’s fire-service issues and willingness to share their well-educated opinions with firefighters and fire officers across the country will enrich our pages and, we hope, enlighten (or, perhaps, occasionally enrage!) our readers.

First up is Tom DeSorcy, the fire chief in lovely Hope, B.C., whose offering in this month’s Volunteer Vision column is likely near and dear to the hearts of chiefs in volunteer departments from coast to coast (page 32). Tom is also the communications chair of the Fire Chiefs Association of B.C. and a former radio personality whose enthusiasm for the fire service is as infectious as his booming voice. Tom shares the Volunteer Vision column with Fire Chief Brad Patton of Centre-Wellington, Ont. – they will each will write four columns a year.

Tim Beckett also joins FFIC this month with his inaugural Straight Talk column. Tim is the fire chief in Kitchener, Ont., first vice-president of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs and a tireless advocate for the fire service. Tim’s success (along with other OAFC directors and members) in bringing fire-service issues such as presumptive legislation for volunteer firefighters and residential sprinklers to the attention of the Ontario government has resulted in a wealth of knowledge about effective lobbying that he shares with readers this month and in May, August and November.

Next month, we introduce the tag team of Lyle Quan (our longstanding Cornerstone columnist) and Les Karpluk (a regular FFIC contributor), who join Dave Hodgins on the leadership beat. Les, the chief in Prince Albert, Sask. and the CAFC’s chief of the year, and Lyle, a deputy chief in Guelph, will write six Leadership Forum columns a year – in March, May, August, September, November and December – while Dave Hodgins writes this month and in June. You may have seen Les and Lyle present at the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs conference or the CAFC convention in Winnipeg last September, or you may see them on the convention circuit this spring/summer.

Our final addition, beginning in the May issue, is Ian Crosby, the wellness and fitness co-ordinator for the Calgary Fire Department. Ian’s experience with the International Association of Fire Fighters Fire Service Joint Labor Management Wellness-Fitness Initiative will help him bring readers a global perspective on firefighter health and wellness at a time when our aging population and myriad health risks need to be front and centre for fire-service managers.

We hope you enjoy our new columnists and their opinions. Let us know what you think – e-mail me at lking@annexweb.com or e-mail our writers at their e-mail addresses, which you’ll find at the end of their columns.