Rocky View County Fire Services recently held its annual Years of Service Awards, a ceremony dedicated to commemorating the many years county firefighters have dedicated to the service.
An unusually large crowd was packed into the Rocky View County (RVC) council chambers for the ceremony on Oct. 21 at 10 a.m.
Firefighters from each of RVC's seven fire halls were in attendance, including the family and close friends of those presented with the special awards for long service. County officials were also in attendance, including five members of RVC's council.
“These awards given today could not have been achieved without the sacrifices of friends and families,” said Deputy Fire Chief Jon Evans.
The Long Service Awards handed out by RVC are classified under two categories –the Alberta Emergency Services bars and the Fire Services Exemplary Service bars, which are federal awards. Both awards are physical bars pinned on recipients' uniforms for formal events.
Bill Wohl, a captain with the Balzac Fire Station and a full time member of the fire service, received a federal honour for 30 years of service. When asked how it felt to be recognized for his distinguished service, he looked around the room at the dozen or so of his colleagues and said, “It’s very fulfilling, quite frankly, this is the best job in the world.”
“When I got hired full time at Rocky View,” he continued. “It was like winning the lottery because it’s something I’d been doing for numerous years before as a volunteer, but then I got paid to do it.”
He added that 30 years is a long time to do a physically and mentally demanding job like firefighting, and to do this job for so long demands something more extreme than just dedication.
What kept him coming back all those years?
“It’s the love of the job,” he said. “It’s also the people…to have such a great group of people, all the guys I’ve worked with across the stations in the county, we all have a singular purpose. We all understand each other.”
Across the room, Captain David Hof of the Springbank Fire Service and a recipient of the Alberta Emergency Service bar for 32 years, thought back on his time in the fire service.
He shared details of a particularly vivid night many years ago when he and others from the station reacted to a vehicle crash.
Ten people were involved in the accident and it took assistance from another fire station to sort through the wreckage.
“[It’s about the crews coming] together,” he said. “Crews utilize different experiences, tools in a toolbox, to pass knowledge.”
Hof and Wohl are both full time firefighters paid by the county to react to emergencies and offer life saving services.
It’s been their career for many years, but what about the volunteer firefighters that fill out the rest of the ranks of the county’s fire services? Could their experience be different?
Clark Graham has been a volunteer firefighter in Langdon for 33 years and was officially recognized with the Fire Services Exemplary service bar for 30 years of service.
He said that when he started firefighting in the community three decades ago, the department knew almost nothing about firefighting.
“At the beginning there was nothing,” said Graham. “I was there in the days of the department when we simply knew nothing…we started talking to people about getting the fire service started and now we’ve evolved into [conducting] complex training scenarios and really defined the ways to operate.”
“There has been a lot of change,” he continued. “And we’ve changed with it. We’ve met the challenge and have kept together.”
For a lot of the firefighters, it seems the desire to affect positive change within the community has driven them to continue with their service.
“The annual barbecues, the Christmas runs, it’s the interaction with the community [and] the amount of support we get," Graham said. "[You can tell] we’ve made the community a better place."
Rocky View firefighters have a lot of ground to cover, over 3,800 square kilometres, according to the RVC’s website, and the volunteer and full time firefighters have worked tirelessly for decades to serve their communities.
“It instills comfort in the community knowing that there are people with experience that can make decisions and have people's best interests at heart,” said Wohl. “We’ve been doing this a long time and it’s quite evident that we put the people we serve first.”
Four members of the RVC Fire Service were presented with 22 year Alberta Emergency Service bars and two received Alberta Emergency Service bars for 32 years of service. Two other firefighters were presented with the Fire Services Exemplary Service bar for 20 years of service and four were presented with the same honour for 30 years of service.
County firefighters were also presented with RVC awards for separate years of service. Three firefighters were honoured for five years of service, one was recognized for 10 years of service, eight were recognized for 15 years, and two were honoured for twenty years.
Each award and service bar recipient worked their way through the throng of chairs and received their medals and bars from RVC Division 2 Coun. Reeve Crystal Kissel and RVC Fire Chief Hubbard.
