Crash highlights vital role of volunteer firefighters

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This article was published 19/06/2023 (868 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba fire chiefs are showing their support for first responders to a tragic crash near Carberry last week. It comes during a time where, nationally, the number of firefighters is declining.

Ten patients remained in hospital Sunday morning following the Thursday crash, where a semi-truck and bus collided at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5.

Fifteen seniors died while en route to Sand Hills Casino from Dauphin. Another 10 were transported to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg and the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

Six were in critical care Sunday morning, a Shared Health spokesperson wrote in a statement.

“It’s a brutal… call to have to respond to,” said Cal Funk, a Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs board member.

The Pembina Valley-based fire chief was not on scene. His department shared its support with Carberry’s volunteer unit, he said.

“They have lots of support,” Funk added. “There’s lots of us that are rooting for them.”

Had the local crew not been there — they had a roughly four-kilometre drive from fire hall to accident site — the crash response could have taken much longer, Funk said.

Brandon’s fire halls were roughly 50 kms away. Portage la Prairie’s fire station was 80 kms from the scene.

“It’s volunteers that drive the system,” Funk said. “We carry a huge load in that service.”

The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs has tracked a drop in both career and volunteer firefighters. It clocked 126,000 firefighters in a 2022 census, down from the 156,000 reported in 2016.

Last year’s number of national firefighters is a roughly 20 per cent drop from 2016. Seventy-one per cent of Canada’s firefighter pool in 2022 were volunteers, the census found.

The national association received responses from 629 Canadian fire departments and added “appropriate multipliers,” the document states.

Manitoba accounts for roughly 3,000 firefighters in its approximate 230 departments, said Cam Abrey, president of the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs.

“There’s areas of the province where they have full staffing. Other departments… are crying out for people to please join their ranks,”– Cam Abrey, president of the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs

“There’s areas of the province where they have full staffing,” Abrey said. “Other departments… are crying out for people to please join their ranks.”

Dauphin needs 11 more bodies, said Abrey, who’s also Dauphin’s fire chief. He could use 36 firefighters; he has 25.

Carberry has an adequate fleet, but generally, “the smaller the community, the harder it becomes” to garner volunteers, Abrey said.

“The younger generations are leaving smaller communities and seeking work elsewhere,” he stated. “Fire protection (and) emergency response is still required in those smaller communities.”

Aging populations, the cumulative toll on responders’ mental and physical health, and trying to balance firefighting with work and family are likely reasons for the decline, Abrey said.

He’s had volunteers — who are trained the same as career firefighters — move into paid roles in other areas. Winnipeg and Brandon are the only two in Manitoba with career firefighters, though both Dauphin and Portage la Prairie have full-time paid fire chiefs.

Financing a fleet of career firefighters isn’t feasible for many communities with small tax bases and relatively few calls, Abrey said.

“Having those volunteer… fire departments is essential. An emergency can happen anywhere, any time,”– Cam Abrey

“Having those volunteer… fire departments is essential,” he said. “An emergency can happen anywhere, any time.”

He suggested that fire departments struggling to gain members educate their community on the role of firefighters and host open houses. Preparing volunteers before they take on the job can also help future members’ mental health, Abrey said.

He and five Dauphin fire department members attended the Carberry North Cypress-Langford Fire Department’s fundraiser breakfast Saturday. The event was planned before the fatal crash last week and ran “to maintain that sense of normalcy,” Abrey said.

“We felt the need to go down and tell them on behalf of the residents of Dauphin, on behalf of the friends and family of those that were lost and that are still in hospital, to say thank you for everything (they) did.”

Abrey joined more than 830 people, a record-breaking number for the event, according to a social media post from the Carberry fire department.

“What a day!” the post reads. “We are beyond speechless to say we received over $10,000 in donations alone.”

One of Dauphin’s fire crew won the 50/50 and donated the proceeds back.

“We are so thankful for everyone’s continued support,” the department’s statement continued.

Such fundraisers often raise money for fire equipment.

Abrey stressed it wasn’t just firefighters and other emergency responders on site Thursday — civilians stopped to help. He recommended they call a doctor, clergy or their work’s employee assistance program if they need support.

“If you are having a reaction to this incident… you are just a normal person having a normal reaction to a very abnormal situation,” Abrey said.

Prairie Mountain Health has mental health teams providing support in Dauphin, Carberry, Brandon and Neepawa. People impacted can call a mental health crisis support line at 1-888-379-7699.

The health region, in collaboration with the city and rural municipality of Dauphin, is also keeping Credit Union Place open for community support, a Shared Health spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Premier Heather Stefanson, Shared Health and the RCMP are scheduled to provide an update on the crash Monday.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com