Hundreds of volunteer firefighters from across Saskatchewan met this weekend in North Battleford to get hands-on training led by the Saskatchewan Volunteer Firefighters Association ahead of the wildfire season.

“When the province needs support, it’s the volunteers of Saskatchewan who are always stepping up to do that,” said Aaron Buckingham, the City of Melville fire chief and president of the volunteer firefighters association.

“Everything that we do here, we hope that they take back to their home departments and share what they have learned. It makes the whole province stronger and better.”

The year’s training session was made up of 14 courses including firefighting basics, wildfire supports and vehicle fires. Volunteer firefighter Fiona Mcrae has attended the fire school five times now and say hands-on training is crucial to prepare new members and refresh veteran firefighters.

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“There is a lot of new firefighters still coming on to these departments in the province, so it’s great for them to get that exposure, to have this hands-on training with a whole bunch of other people.” she said.

Volunteer firefighting efforts wouldn’t be possible, however, without community support.

“The price of everything we do has gone up,” Buckingham said, noting that volunteer groups need to sell a lot of hot dogs or hamburgers to buy a set of fire gear or to replace a truck. “So, supporting our firefighters throughout the province is very, very important.”

Moreover, volunteer firefighters are simply people from their community looking to help their neighbours. “We’re farmers, we’re doctors, we’re teachers, we’re nurses. We’re every scope of it.” Mcrae said.

The Saskatchewan Volunteer Firefighters Association will hold its next fire school in the fall.

Watch the video above to see the volunteer firefighters in action.

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