Cole Spareboom grew up hanging around the 100 Mile Fire Rescue hall watching his dad training and answering the call to serve. He must have been paying attention, because he is now stepping up to lead it.
On Tuesday, Oct. 10, Spareboom officially took on the role as deputy fire chief for his home town fire department. He was appointed after Dave Bissat vacated the role, having been promoted to chief following Roger Hollander’s departure in September. Spareboom said he’s looking forward to taking on a broader leadership role at the department.
“I enjoy it all. Serving the community and helping someone when they need it is huge for me. I’d gladly get out of bed at three in the morning every time to go help someone if they need it,” Spareboom, 29, said.
Spareboom was born and raised in 100 Mile House and, aside from a six-year stint in Alberta, has lived here all his life. He said he came back for his love of the community’s small-town vibe, noting he prefers it to big cities.
It wasn’t long after he returned home in 2017 that Spareboom’s father, Bob Spareboom, encouraged him to join 100 Mile Fire Rescue as a paid on-call firefighter. Spareboom said his father has been on the hall for 26 years now and when he was growing up he used to spend lots of evenings at the hall while his dad trained.
“I was here a lot when I was little, always at the events. There were a lot of late nights that the hall would babysit us,” he said.
Becoming a firefighter involved a lot of learning and extra hours, especially in the evenings. He has balanced his firefighting with his job at West Fraser’s 100 Mile Lumber.
He said that the people at the hall are a “good crew” and make everything - from training to late-night calls - a lot of fun. Their primary focus is safety above all else, which Spareboom said he intends to continue to foster as deputy chief.
“Hopefully I can keep training and hold our whole (department) to the high standards we set for ourselves,” he said. “If you have higher standards you’re protecting yourself, the people you’re serving, and any bystanders so everyone goes home safe.”
Spareboom said he applied last time the deputy chief position became open, when Bissat got the job. At the time he was inexperienced and had only recently become a lieutenant, responsible for managing a team of firefighters during a call-out.
Now with three more years under his belt, Spareboom is looking forward to becoming deputy chief. He remarked it’s a bit scary and is a lot to take on. Working straight days, unlike working swing shifts at the mill, will be a huge adjustment all on its own.
“It will be exciting. I’m pretty pumped for it,” Spareboom said. “I’m really excited to push this fire hall further.”
As deputy fire chief and training officer, Spareboom said his primary role will be supporting Bissat and bringing in new training opportunities for 100 Mile’s firefighters. When asked if he’s looking forward to being his dad’s boss, Spareboom chuckled and said he’s not sure if he’ll ever be his boss.
“It hasn’t quite kicked in yet but I can’t wait to get out there and serve the community,” Spareboom said. “I’ll definitely lean on all the senior officers (like my dad) to help me out.”
