There is one man's name on the award, but he said it represents an entire team.
Fire Chief Bill Higgs of Sechelt was selected Volun-teer Fire Chief of the Year in Whitehorse Sept. 24. "They have to put somebody's name on it, but I'd be silly to think it's all about me," Higgs said.
The Canadian Associa-tion of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) celebrated its 100th year as the "national public service association dedicated to reducing the loss of life and property from fire and advancing the science and technology of the fire and emergency service in Canada."
Higgs said, "A guy by the name of Sean Tracey, a North American rep for the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) nominated me. We've never even spoken to one another, but we've had email contact on projects for years. He's been following Sechelt's work."
The CAFC review committee cited some of their reasons for honouring Higgs, who has been a member of the volunteer fire department since 1985 and its chief since 1990. "In 1992, his department played a significant role as one of the first fire departments in North America to introduce compressed air foam systems and class A foam into the municipal firefighting area. His department has also been extremely active in promoting the effectiveness of automatic fire sprinkler systems, and as a result of these efforts, stringent sprinkler bylaws were passed that has made the Sechelt Fire Protection District one of the most 'sprinklered' communities in Canada."
"We realized we couldn't use the traditional muscle and hose model anymore. It wasn't as effective as we wanted to be," Higgs said. "Public education [about the sprinklers] became a primary focus."
Higgs said he and the department took some heat from traditionalists in the field who didn't believe the class A foam, generally used in forest fires, would be effective in structure fires. "People were told not to follow that 'maverick fire department' in Sechelt," he laughed. "There were about five years that were a trying time, but we're a progressive fire department and we don't give up on ideas once we've seized on them," Higgs said.
He said he was proud to represent his firefighters at the conference and accept the award on behalf of them all. He said it reinforced for many that they were going down the right path during those years when other fire professionals were questioning their judgment.
He is grateful for the board of trustees that has supported his "crazy ideas" over the years when boards that are more traditional would have shut down things like his trial of the class A foam that is now being used to fight structure fires across North America.
According to the CAFC, there are some 3,200 volunteer fire departments in Canada, with 84,000 personnel. They make up 91 per cent of all Canadian fire departments and 77 per cent of firefighting personnel.
