A dedicated new class of junior firefighters has helped resurrect Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School's junior firefighter program.
After a two-year hiatus, PSO teacher John Murray brought the program back this year following popular demand, with around 30 students signed up for the class. The junior firefighter program was started in 2013 and ran for nine years straight. Murray said that after not having enough interested students to run the program for the last two years, this year he had a wait list.
"It's a great group of kids this year. We've been focusing so far on first aid, personal protection equipment and hoses. We'll be going into wildfire stuff next, ladders, knots and ropes," Murray said.
A 17-year member of the 108 Mile Volunteer Fire Department with 20 years of firefighting experience, Murray said he enjoys teaching the program and passing on his knowledge to the students. He noted that they follow the same standards as every fire hall does with the drills they do, stating that if they can't safely do something, they don't do it.
During the program, Murray teaches his students everything they need to know to do exterior fire fighting and basic first aid. In addition to classroom learning, he does hands-on training with them, including using fire hoses and touring 100 Mile Fire Rescue's hall earlier this year. Murray also noted the program received several old sets of turnout gear this year, donated by the District of 100 Mile House and 100 Mile Fire Rescue.
"We've been working with 100 Mile Fire Rescue. They've been awesome this year, they've donated a whole bunch of old gear for us," Murray remarked. "They've arranged for us, at the end of the year, to go to their training centre for a good chunk of the day, which is amazing."
One of Murray's students this year is Daylee Whyte, Grade 12, who said she's wanted to take the course for the last five years. Whyte remarked she's a physically active person with a passion for firefighting and wanted to get hands-on experience with firefighting before going to university.
"I was beyond excited. If you were to see it, I was jumping up and down in joy because I finally got the course that I have been wanting," Whyte said. "I love every minute of it. It's physically demanding, but it's really fun. I'm getting my first aid training through this class and the experience I'm getting in this class is beyond describable. It's some of the best fun I've had in a long time."
Whyte remarked that even though there are only four girls in the class, including herself, everyone gets along great and has a lot of fun. She especially enjoyed using the two-and-a-half-inch hoses and shooting 100 pounds of water a minute onto the school's field.
"It's incredibly powerful, a lot more powerful than I thought it was going to be," Whyte remarked.
Assisting Murray in teaching students like Whyte is fellow Grade 12 student Ryan Toffsrud. Toffsrud is the only student in the program this year who took it previously and remarked he's enjoying serving as a mentor to the other students.
"Three years ago, I joined this program because it was fun and would look good on a resume and I loved it. I'm back here, three years later, teaching these guys some things I've been taught," Toffsrud remarked.
Toffsrud said he loves firefighting and, in addition to taking the course, volunteers with 100 Mile Fire Rescue twice a week. Joining a fire department full-time is Toffsrud's future dream job.
New this year, the students will learn about the importance of FireSmarting from the District of 100 Mile House's FireSmart coordinator, Ryan Dugaro. Murray said he also took advantage of an opportunity for his students to visit the emergency room of the 100 Mile District General Hospital, another first for the program.
When asked why he thinks there was such renewed interest this year, Murray remarked that they had used up a lot of the interested students, and the two-year hiatus allowed a new group to build up. He joked that the students were so hard to keep up with that he lost his voice last month, but remarked they've been a great class.
"It's a super positive energy. I like to use the word bouncy, they're just ready to do everything," Murray remarked. "I have to curb their enthusiasm cause they're just so excited. It's so much fun."
Murray noted that over the years, a large number of former students who took the class under him have gone on to use their skills in their adult lives. Some have directly joined local fire departments, while others have gotten jobs fighting wildfires during the summer.
"Even if they don't walk out of here and go right into volunteering in a hall, they'll go back to it three or four years later. We really encourage volunteer time with our students," Murray said, noting he has each student do 15 hours of volunteer work to pay the community back for their support.
Anyone with an interest in firefighting and who is a visual learner should consider taking the course, Whyte said. She praised Murray for his teaching style and for the involvement of 100 Mile Fire Rescue in their learning.
"I would like to follow through to be a firefighter even after university. I would love to pursue firefighting after high school," Whyte said. "This is a really great course, and I would really recommend it to anyone who wants a fun time in class. There is a lot of hard work, but it's totally worth it in the end."
