THUNDER BAY — On what is typically a busy night for firefighters, the Friday night of the CLE proved to be a little quieter than normal.
The quiet wasn't something that crews on shift were taking for granted though.
In an exclusive ride-along experience with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue, this reporter had the unique opportunity to tour a couple of fire stations in the city, talk to firefighters about the job and see what an evening at the firehall was all about.
Offering to shuttle people and equipment to the next incoming call was Peter Warywoda, the division chief of training with TBFR.
Warywoda has been in this role for the past six years and was also excited about the opportunity to allow local media an inside look at the fire department on what could be a busy Friday night.
"It's hard to expect what you're going to run into," he said.
"There's a double-edged sword a little bit because I hope for our sake that we get to run some interesting calls or go and witness some interesting calls.
"But of course, whenever the fire department responds to an emergency, then obviously someone's experiencing some hardship."
Warywoda's job is to keep the city's firefighters current on the extensive training required.
"We respond to everything, from medical calls to auto accidents, auto extrication calls, obviously fires, automatic alarms, high rise fires, but also rescue calls," Warywoda said.
"We have an increased mandate to assist ambulances in accessing remote and hard-to-access places. The nature of the calls that we respond to oftentimes don't happen every day, it's what we call 'high risk, low frequency.' . . . We don't do it all the time, so we have to train for it.
"That's why I love my role in the training division, because we have roughly 200 firefighters and so many disciplines that we have to be prepared to deal with a wide variety of emergencies."
He said he can't count the number of times TBFR has responded to water rescue calls or calls that were high up (apartment buildings, cliffs, etc.) over his 20-year career.
One thing Warywoda discussed is the nature of calls, how those have changed over the years and that firefighters are attending more medical assist calls than previously.
When a call for service comes in, firefighters are dispatched to the scene. They are not prioritized like EMS calls.
The fire department isn't allowed to move patients either. They have to wait for an ambulance to arrive before they can leave, even if there's another call coming in for service.
A domino effect can happen if ambulances are backed up offloading a patient at the hospital, which could delay them from resetting their ambulance and getting to the next call to relieve firefighters at a scene with a patient.
Many firefighters at the station that night expressed frustrations over this part of the system.
When it comes to downtime during a 24-hour shift, firefighters are kept busy with administrative tasks as well as chores around the hall.
Over the course of the evening, Warywoda explained that as materials have changed over the years, that has also changed how firefighters respond.
"Back in the day of our grandmother's houses and what have you, couches and things were made of natural fibres, whereas today they're made of polyurethane and synthetics.
"They're all made of plastics. The fuel load is essentially a number two diesel fuel.
"Back 30 years ago, a fire might take 24 to 30 minutes to reach flash-over, roughly 1,000 F. Today's fuel packages will likely reach flash-over in three to four minutes, so response times haven't changed."
The mandated response time for TBFR is four minutes from the time 911 is called and alerted to the fire until firefighters arrive at the scene.
He added there are eight stations strategically located around the city.
Warywoda said having a fire safety plan is crucial and greatly benefits both those escaping a blaze and crews assessing a scene for potential victims trapped inside.
TV has depicted dinners at fire halls to be something of grandeur, and this night did not disappoint.
Shortly after arriving, this reporter was invited upstairs to the kitchen to join the meal.
Ascending the stairs, the smell of freshly cooked ribs, cheesy potato casserole, and seasoned carrots wafted through the hallways.
Everyone on shift had a "family-style" dinner, which was described as an important bonding opportunity for the team.
One crew member added that not everyone gets assigned cooking duties.
This is because firefighters with less kitchen experience have been known to make less-than-satisfactory meals — they'll be added to the rotation when they have more recipes under their belts.
They also enjoyed cake to celebrate the in-house promotion of a platoon chief.
A new recruit said working in Thunder Bay has been a positive and busy experience after coming to the city from southern Ontario.
Andrew Isidori has been with TBFR since March and was a volunteer firefighter in Minden, Ont., for almost four years. He's used to more rural types of calls and is grateful for the varied experience.
"I came from a more rural town so we had a lot of more backcountry type of calls. Here being in the city, there's a lot more high rises, things that I wasn't really familiar with back down where I'm from. There's definitely a lot more calls."
Isidori said he enjoys working shifts with the same people, and that it helps build rapport.
"Definitely helps to have that relationship with the people that I'm working with here, knowing that we'll always be able to kind of have each other's back."
A short trip to the Water Street station to tour some of the water and outback rescue equipment and, of course, to check out where the only fire poles are located in the city.
As the evening went on, there was the opportunity to try on a full load of gear, which weighs just over 100 lbs and includes specialty firefighter pants, jacket, helmet, boots, and gloves, as well as an oxygen tank, hose, and a pair of axes.
Firefighters sometimes don the gear and practice climbing and descending flights of stairs at the stations to maintain their fitness and practice routines.
While the night continued with no calls for the fire department to attend, a lot was learned about how the department operates internally when it comes to responding to calls and how fast crews react when an alarm does come in.
