Meet the Recruits Dinner a Great Success

Congratulations to Garry and all his helpers on pulling off a great "Meet the Recruits" night. Over 40 people attended the dinner and social event at the fire station, with almost the entire recruit class present. Each one introduced themselves and their spouses and pets (if applicable). Dinner was fabulous and everyone had a great time. It was nice to see Duane Adsett and his family in attendance. Duane started his fire service career in Sooke over 20 years ago as an impressionable 16 year old junior firefighter. After 10 years as a volunteer with Sooke he made it to the big leagues when he was hired by Oak Bay Fire Department. Now after ten years with this department he is now an Acting Lt. Duane is one of many Sooke volunteers that has gone on to a successful career in the fire service. He is also Mr. May in the Greater Victoria FD Calendar - A great fundraiser - (just ask my wife as I am sure that is why she bought the calendar). Also great to see Nakima up and around after her accident the other day.
Anyway, back to our current recruits - congratulations on getting this far. In just two short weeks you will be getting your pagers and keys (well, all but one I hear) Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing you on the rigs and responding to calls.

Final Goodbye for retired Assistant Chief Dennis Smith

Well over 300 people were in attendance at the Sooke Community Hall on Sunday for the celebration of life for Dennis "Jock" Smith. Jock served as a volunteer and later a career member of the Sooke Fire Department from 1952 until his retirement in 1997 having reached the rank of Assistant Fire Chief. In a fitting tribute to Jock and his well known sense of humour, a series of pager tones were head echoing throughout the room just as the service was about to start. This was a call for Sooke Firefighters to attend a medical aid call. I am sure Dennis was smiling when that happened. With all his family and many friends and collegues from his days in the fire department present, a very moving tribute was made, recognizing his many years of involvement and volunteer service to the community. Judging by the full house it was obvious he had touched the lives of many.

Town Hall Meeting

This coming Monday the 30th the District of Sooke is hosting a Town Hall Meeting at the Community Hall from 4:00 - 8:00 pm. Sooke Fire Rescue Service will have a display as well as running the concession area as a fund raiser. Anyone available to assist, please come on down. Station wear will be appropriate dress. This is also a chance to learn what is happening in the community as your elected officials as well as staff and department heads will be on hand with displays and presentations on what is happening and what will be happening in our town. If you have some time, you might find it well worth your time to come down and learn a thing or two.

Structure Fire - Mcmillan Rd

Crews were kept busy with a major structure fire in a log home on McMillan Road this past evening. The call came in shortly before 7:00 pm, just as firefighters were finalizing their truck checks in time for regular Thursday night training. First arriving units were met with very heavy fire on the "C" side of the building with smoke venting through many areas in the wooden shake roof. 2 - 1 3/4" preconnects and a 2 1/2" line with the mini monitor were quickly placed into action as crews worked at trying to knock down the fire. Several ladders were also used to access various section of the roof and walls were many pockets of fire were located within the voids formed between the rafters. As exhausted firefighters left the building as their air bottles were used up, additional resources soon became depleted as all available firefighters were in action and a call was placed to Otter Point Fire Department for more manpower. After a 2 1/2 hour battle, the fire was extinguished and crews began packing up their gear. Extensive damage was done to the entire rear section of the exterior of the home as well as a large portion of the roof. Very little fire damage was found on the interior due to the heavy log construction, but significant smoke and water damage was evident throughout.
Upon returning the next morning, fire investigators covered the scene to locate the point of origin and cause of fire. No accidental means could be found and the fire is labeled suspicious at this time and the file turned over to the RCMP.

Olympic Firefighting

Sooke Fire Rescue Service has been selected by the Office of the Fire Commissioner as one of the fire departments that will provide fire protection to a portion of the Olympic Games in Whistler. Headed up by Assistant Chief Mcleod, 4 other firefighters will be stationed at the games for a 4 day shift. This includes 2 day shifts and 2 night shifts. Congratulations to the lucky candidates. Hopefully they can bring us back lots of souvenirs.

Officer Meeting

Reminder that the next officer meeting is December 8th at 7:00 pm Several changes are in the works as far as duties and responsibilities of the officers of the department. Please make sure you attend this important meeting.

Public Education Meeting

The Public Education Committee met last night and were introduced to two new members. Rachel Pollard comes to us with lots of first aid experience as she is an OFA3, EMR and CPR certified. Our next candidate is a friend of Catherine whom we have not yet received an application from but may be interested in joining. We spoke on several topics, mostly centred about what we can do to make better use of the meetings. Some new training and teaching experiences will be tried in the new year. We also spoke about the OZone which is to be held during the Olympics in Richmond. This is the place where all the atheletes and public can come and watch the giant TV screens, see live bands perform, visit Olympic Displays or go to the Heinekin House. As part of this event, the entrance to the site will feature BC Street - 15 communities from BC will showcase their towns in displays along this route. All 400,000 expected visitors will have to pass through this area to get in. One of the 15 communities will be Sooke - what an opportunity. A 20 x 40 ft booth will feature the District of Sooke for 17 days. The fire department has been asked to help build the props and displays and pub ed has offered to help. Any other firefighter wanting to work on this once in a lifetime project should let me know.

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging. Turns out a blog is not some sort of stomach ailment as I first thought. Rather this is my entry into the 21st century (yes, I am a little behind) With a little practice maybe I will move up into the current century. Anyway, my hope is to provide you, the reader with current information on the exciting (well sometimes) events that take place on a daily basis with Sooke Fire Rescue Service. Please be patient, as it takes time for us old timers to catch on to something new. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see - feel free to comment.