Fort Frances has 10 crews, with 4 people on each. Each crew has
Crew Leader- the main person in charge of the fire action plan and what the crew members responsibilities are
Crew Boss- second in command, if the crew leader is off doing something they are in charge of the crew members
2 crew members- (that's what I'm doing)- we basically take orders from the crew leader or boss for our jobs and what we're supposed to be doing.
At any time there are 6 or 7 crews working and 3 or 4 off. The crews that are working are on one of three alerts
Crew Leader- the main person in charge of the fire action plan and what the crew members responsibilities are
Crew Boss- second in command, if the crew leader is off doing something they are in charge of the crew members
2 crew members- (that's what I'm doing)- we basically take orders from the crew leader or boss for our jobs and what we're supposed to be doing.
At any time there are 6 or 7 crews working and 3 or 4 off. The crews that are working are on one of three alerts
Red- you are ready for immediate dispatch, less than 5 minutes. So you're wearing your fire gear, bags are ready and you're around the base doing little jobs until you're dispatched.
Yellow- you are ready to dispatch in less than 30 minutes. You are around the base with your bags packed but you have a little more time to get ready.
Blue- You have up to 4 hours to dispatch. This is typically what you're on when it's rainy or there aren't any fires predicted.
There are people monitoring every aspect of the weather so they usually have a pretty good idea of when a fire is going to happen.
They said the beginning of the spring was the driest they have seen in almost 60 years. There were 16 fires before I even got here. Last year there were 18 fires all year (it was a sloooooooowww year). Of course as soon as I get here it's been raining for a week. I actually don't mind for now because I definitely can benefit from some training before I'm dispatched to a fire!
The other training we did was WHIMIS (workplace hazards) and TDG (transportation of dangerous goods), WHDT (workplace harrassment and discrimination training) and bear management. These consisted of a lot of old school videos with funny actors and advice.
1) "If a bear starts to eat you, fight back." Thanks for that... because I wouldn't start fighting back before this point.
2) "How to know if someone is getting angry- red face, clenched fists, glaring at you." Also, brand new information... thanks for the heads up.
So far so good... I'm anxious to meet my crew and start training!!
WHMIS and TDG training are two very important training that you really should get if you are working in a workplace that handles a lot of dangerous and hazardous chemicals. It is one of the ways to ensure that you keep yourself and your co workers safe.
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