The heart and soul of Banff’s fire department are its volunteers.
Firefighting is often touted as rewarding, challenging, demanding, and exciting – and it can be – but there are also costs that come to volunteer members whose unquestionable dedication involves a huge commitment.
“To be a volunteer, most people don’t understand what level of commitment is required. It takes significant commitment, and sometimes you sacrifice family time and personal time to be involved in the fire department,” said Silvio Adamo, Banff’s Fire Chief.
“The money that they make isn’t significant by any means, and all the girls and guys have full-time jobs as well, are trying to balance work life, and family and personal life and it can be difficult.”
Banff’s fire department has 4.5 full-time equivalent paid positions, including Chief Adamo, two deputy chiefs, an assistant chief of fire prevention, and a half-time administrative assistant.
At full complement, there are 31 paid on-call volunteer members, though they are sitting at 28 right now. The department does not struggle with recruitment like many other volunteer fire departments across the country, with the last recruitment three years ago.
It’s a lengthy process to become a volunteer firefighter, starting with separate recruitment training from the rest of the department’s Tuesday training for the first three months, followed by three-month written and practical exams.
At that point, new volunteer recruits are integrated into the fire department’s Tuesday night training, where they continue to train and learn. Then, there is a six-month exam.
“If we think they’re ready at that point, they get to respond to calls. They don’t even respond to calls for the first six months, we want to make sure they are trained and safe,” said Adamo.
“Once they’re allowed to respond, only one new recruit can go on the first truck … so an officer doesn’t look back and see four new recruits going to a structure fire.”
At one year, they do another written and practical exam. “That’s when they go off probation to be a full firefighter,” said Adamo. “You can see there is a very big commitment to even become a volunteer.”
Adamo said there is a lot of pride in the department and appreciation for on-call volunteers as part of the recruitment and retention program.
He said the fire department switched to a two-tier wage system, which compensates volunteers at an hourly wage of $20 to $28 for training, duty crews and other duties around the fire hall, but $45 an hour when responding to an emergency.
“It’s recognizing them for their commitment and dedication,” said Adamo. “It’s not really about the money, but recognizing them as professionals when responding to calls.”
Adamo said many people want to become volunteer firefighters, but there are aspects of the job that are physically and mentally demanding.
“We do a lot of MVA (motor vehicle accidents) collisions that involve extrication,” he said. “That whole visual image of seeing an accident scene, seeing people injured or dead, is not for everyone.”
The fire department also tries to create a welcoming environment for its members and their families at the fire station, where there is a kitchen and rec room with a pool table and air hockey, among other things.
“We encourage the members and families to spend time at the fire station,” said Adamo.
As part of its ongoing recruitment and retention strategy, the fire department also brings in a fitness trainer and nutritionist four times a year, as well as offers mental health support for firefighters and their families, including children.
“The mental health component of what we offer is constantly evolving,” he said.
Banff’s fire department is on track for another record-breaking year, with more than 400 calls to date. That compares to just over 500 for all of last year.
The call outs are for highway accidents, medical emergencies, alarms bells and fires, but Adamo said volunteer firefighters only respond to motor vehicle accidents and structure fires, which average 100 to 150 calls a year.
“Employers in town are allowing our members to respond to calls when they are at work at times, and we don’t want to abuse the relationship and generosity of employers, so members only respond to MVAs and structure fires,” he said.
