SIOUX LOOKOUT – Recent training from the Ontario Fire College is a “milestone step” for five First Nations in Ontario’s Northwest, according to Nicholas Rhone.
Rhone is the integrated emergency services director and regional fire chief for IFNA, the Independent First Nations Alliance.
He saw 14 trainees from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Lac Seul, Muskrat Dam, Pikangikum and Whitesand graduate from the fire college's Fire and Life Safety Educator course earlier this month.
The training equips them to teach fire prevention in their communities – and thus, Rhone told Dougall Media, help make IFNA’s five First Nations safer.
Each graduate will become a trainer in their community, allowing them to teach their new skills to others.
Training the 14 individuals “was a milestone step in reducing the gaps our communities see in emergency services,” Rhone said.
It’s also the beginning of a training relationship with the provincial Office of the Fire Marshal, with more courses to come along with the development of courses in Indigenous languages, according to an IFNA news release.
Rhone said the graduating cohort is remarkable because “it’s the first time that we’ve had this many graduates, but also (because) every member nation of IFNA was represented at the training.”
Trainees learned in a variety of subject areas including fire behaviour and smoke alarms, he said.
The state of fire departments “varies from community to community” within IFNA, Rhone added.
“And this is why the first line of defence is always fire safety education, because that is the No. 1 way to ensure there are no fatalities or issues with a fire.”
