Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue is launching a recruitment drive, urging people who live and work in Fruitvale, Montrose, Genelle, Warfield and Rossland to join its team.
Community minded people of all ages and from all walks of life are being encouraged to apply as paid on-call firefighters to help save lives and support their fellow officers who respond to emergency situations across the district 24/7.
“Our paid-on-call Firefighters are integral to our team and help us protect our communities. They are people just like you and if they can be Firefighters, then you can be too,” says Paul Marrandino, who is a pipefitter for Teck Metals, four days on and four off. He has been a firefighter for seven years and will head the Montrose Fire Station 375, as station officer, come June.
Montrose is hoping to attract the largest number of applicants throughout its response area, which stretches from the Walmart intersection to Bluebird Corner near Fruitvale.
“Our message is simple,” Marrandino adds. “If you have the enthusiasm, drive, commitment and fitness to work as part of our team, then we want you to apply.”
Lt. Emily Rindler, a mom of two, was the first female firefighter to join Rossland’s Fire Station 371 and stay more than one year. Over the last six years she has risen within it to become one of the highest-ranking women in the fire service.
“It’s less about gender and more about a group of really good people doing a bunch of really good things,” she says. “Yes, there are more men than women but the dynamics are brilliant, the people are amazing and you never stop growing,”
Rindler juggles her firefighting position with that of development services clerk and is currently in training to become a building official for the City of Rossland.
Kelton Kinch, 20, is the youngest firefighter and balances the role he loves at the Montrose fire station with being a full time business student at Selkirk College and a manager at McDonald’s.
“I love helping people and being that positive change for someone in my community on what could be the best or worst day of their life,” says Kinch, who was drawn to the service after taking the wildlife firefighting course at J.L. Crowe as part of its Outdoor Education program.
“I thought my age would be a problem when I first signed up and I wouldn’t fit in because here I was, the youngest kid, joining such a close knit, established team but from the very first day I opened the door everyone was so welcoming. My age just didn’t matter.”
“Being a firefighter is easily the greatest decision I have ever made,” says Jessica Woolsey. She had “zero training as a first responder” the first day she walked into the station in 2019 but had grown up with firefighters, including her dad, his brothers and her grandfather, who was a fire chief. “I’m so proud of what they gave, how they spoke of their station and the camaraderie that came with it.
On-the-job training for firefighters takes place once a week from 7 to 9 p.m. at your local fire station. Many firefighters have to juggle the demands of life, kids, shiftwork and partners around these practice sessions and the subsequent pager calls.
“If you’re looking to become a career firefighter or want to add some purposeful work in your life, I think it’s a great thing to be a part of,” says Travis Allen who is a 30-year old shift worker at Teck who had no prior firefighting experience before joining the Kootenay Boundary Fire Rescue.
Applications and enquiries for each station are via headquarters in Trail. To find out more about what the role and application process involves, interested candidates can visit rdkb.com/careers, email [email protected], or phone 250-364-1737.