"Mayhem! Mayhem! We have a man down. All RIT members move to the front of the building immediately. We have a man down!" That is a call Ian Thompson doesn't mind radioing in on training day at the Bowen Island Fire Department as he summons a team of men to the site of a drill. Tonight Thompson, who acts as the Fire Department's Training Officer, is in charge of leading the RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) through a rescue exercise that will see the volunteer firemen retrieve a fallen team member. "It's an obstacle course so it's not just running to get him, it involves crawling through a small, dark space till we find the patient and we have to extract him from there," explains Thompson adding that, not only is the feat very challenging considering the extra 70 pounds of equipment on the firefighters, but it's also a very critical exercise considering the dangers of the job just three months ago the community of Enderby, BC mourned the death of a volunteer firefighter who was killed while responding to a blaze.
The dangers of the job are indeed very real and firefighters have to be prepared for any eventuality. Bowen Island Fire Chief Brian Biddlecombe, who has been at the helm for the last eight years after joining the department in 1979, thinks there still are some misconceptions about exactly what goes on at the fire hall, "a lot of people, when they drive by, might think there are guys sleeping here waiting to go out on a call. And sometimes the community is not aware that this is a volunteer fire hall when a page goes out all these guys respond to the hall," he says adding that the volunteers are always on call, "we have a lot of guys here who go out on calls at night and leave their families behind on Thanksgiving or Christmas Days. "
And despite appearances, our sleepy island keeps the department quite busy. In 2011, Bowen Island Fire Rescue responded to 179 calls ranging from structure fires and illegal burns to medical emergencies and vehicle and boat fires. And while a big chunk of the calls 88 in fact - were medical, the department has to be ready for almost anything explains Biddlecombe, "because we are an island, whether it's in the middle of the night or daytime, we have to have everything to handle any kind of emergency here. Small volunteer stations on the mainland or on Vancouver Island have a mutual agreement with neighbouring communities to bring in a tanker truck, or ladder truck, or extraction gear but we have to have everything here and our response has to be pretty high level."
But back to the training, the RIT's drill is only one of three training exercises going on simultaneously on this chilly Tuesday night in March; the other two include an extraction from a vehicle and a confined space practice down in Snug Cove. The Fire Department is committed to providing the best training possible to its volunteers; perhaps one on the reasons why being a part of the team is so appealing to so many.
But not the only reason it's such a draw. Just last year Lloyd Harding was recognized for 50 years involvement with Fire Services on Bowen the 70 year old says he just loves being a part of the team. Kevin Toews, who is one of the newer members at the Fire Hall, says the challenges of firefighting are attractive but he too, enjoys the camaraderie; "once they get in, the guys don't want to leave," says the 34 year old who sees himself staying on well into the future. Echoing that sentiment, Lachlan Huinink says he grew up wanting to be a firefighter and volunteering has given him and opportunity to give back to the community. "It's a good bunch of people to spend time with and it's very rewarding," says the 28 year old who has been with the Fire Hall for two years, adding with a chuckle that being a part of the team is a lot of fun, "it's just like a big good family but there is no weird uncles."
Humour aside, unlike other volunteer fire departments in British Columbia, Bowen Island does not seem to have a problem attracting and retaining volunteers for years. Currently the roster is almost at capacity with 31 volunteers on board. The prerequisites to apply are quite simple - you must live and work on the island. "From there on it's an elective process," says Biddlecombe who has seen a number of applications pass through his hands, "we do look for things like future stability in the community. If it's a young person with a mortgage and a young family the chances are pretty good that they will stick around on the Island. There is a fairly large expense to train someone and when we make that commitment to them we are very hopeful that person is going to stay for a while." And what about the age? You must be at least 19 years old to apply but there does not seem to be a cut-off. "We are pretty flexible on age. We have a couple of people who you would consider in their golden years but those guys are not putting on air packs and going into burning buildings but their knowledge of the community and scale of experience is pretty important to have in the hall," says Biddlecombe. The department will be looking to take on two more volunteers in the near future and Biddlecombe encourages those who meet the criteria to apply "It's a proud tradition of being a volunteer firefighter on Bowen and it's a real good feeling to be involved."
