Five Sechelt firefighters will head to Whistler in early February, to provide first aid, fire prevention, and - if necessary - firefighting skills to safeguard Olympic attendees and venues.
"The guys are really proud," Sechelt fire Chief Bill Higgs said. "And we feel very well blessed to have been selected, because a lot of people weren't."
Team captain Adam Bramham and firefighters Dwight Davison, Matt Gilroy, Ryan Elphick and Sam Williams have been selected to work four days, starting Feb. 12, at the Whistler Olympic Park. Robb Stockwell is standing by as an alternate.
In order to be selected, Higgs said, the firefighters had to provide all their training records and years of experience, plus undergo a thorough background check for security reasons.
Higgs said he anticipates that, while in Whistler, the firefighters will largely be dealing with fire prevention work and pre-hospital emergency care.
"So someone with a heart attack, someone who's taken a fall on the snow or the ice, broken limbs, lots to do with diabetic treatment, lots to do with epileptic treatment," he said. "The kind of things you get with a group of 10,000."
Beyond that, Higgs said, there's always the risk of "a fire event" - particularly with temporary structures where heaters and drying devices aren't installed as well as they might be in a permanent building.
In anticipation of their Olympic service, Higgs said he's helping the Whistler-bound firefighters hone their first-aid skills and fire prevention and inspection skills - skills which he says differ substantially from the firefighting which makes up the majority of calls in Sechelt.
"Dealing with people who are having a medical emergency is a lot different than kicking in the door and crawling in on your belly and putting out a fire," he said. "And again on fire inspections and fire prevention, it's done in a systematic way, in a controlled way where it's something you can manage, where[as] firefighting is brutal and aggressive. That's why they call it firefighting."
He said with approximately 45 firefighters in the Sechelt department, the community will not suffer for fire coverage while the team is away in Whistler. Moreover, with all their pre-Whistler training, he's readying the men to do their town proud.
"If they're going to be representing us and protecting a whole bunch of people," he said, "I want them to be a shining example of what can be done from a small town fire department."
