Firefighters will learn the ins and outs of their new-to-them ladder truck well in advance of bringing it out on an actual fire call, according to Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue (SSIFR) officials, who told district trustees the aerial apparatus is getting new decals put on this week.
When it arrives, the 2009 Smeal Spartan “Gladiator” aerial apparatus will be a first for the island, formerly in service for the Saanich Fire Department and joining the SSIFR fleet at no cost thanks to an anonymous donation. According to Deputy Chief Dale Lundy, a crew of eight Salt Spring firefighters is scheduled for training in Saanich with that department’s apparatus expert, Assistant Deputy Chief of Operations and fire service instructor Craig Ford.
“Safety is paramount; we’ll be doing lots of training,” said Lundy at the fire board’s meeting Monday, April 20. “There will be some serious restrictions on who will be operating it.”
Ford will also likely be coming across to Salt Spring to deliver further instruction on aerial operations, he said, but in the meantime one SSIFR member would be attending part of the annual B.C. Fire Training Officers Association conference in Campbell River for a three-day course May 8-10.
“They call it a HOT training,’” said Lundy. “Hands-on for a Friday night, then all day Saturday and all day Sunday.”
Lundy said while the truck will meet firefighters’ needs to respond to events at multi-storey buildings, the department was also developing a mapping matrix to determine what kinds of calls should include the ladder truck — and where it can and cannot go.
“Ideally it’s going to be the second truck out,” he said. “So Engine 1 might respond with a two-person crew, and depending on the nature of the call would determine if the ladder is needed.”
Trustees also learned the new truck will join the rest of SSIFR’s fleet at the new Fire Hall No. 1 a little later than anticipated, as owner’s representative Hans Hazenboom broke the news that a two-week delay was impossible to overcome at this late point in the project, which broke ground in 2023.
“We’re basically behind by about two weeks,” said Hazenboom. “And any project at this stage, it’s difficult to catch up; whatever time gets lost, is lost.”
Hazenboom said the $13.7-million fire hall was still on-budget, and with progress as it stood he felt comfortable stating firefighters could start moving from the old hall starting May 6, to support fire operations at the new building beginning in mid-May.
“We’re not going to move in just in one afternoon,” said district CAO Rodney Dieleman, adding that with everything from telephone lines to vehicles being transferred, there would likely be around five days of work to become fully operational. Timing for an official opening event for the public was another matter; trustees voted to hold off on setting another date for that celebration.