Nunavik plans to train 15 firefighters per community

Volunteer firefighters in Kangiqsujuaq respond to a fire in a shed in 2009. The KRG is now recruiting Nunavimmiut for training that will see them become internationally-accredited firefighters. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

KUUJJUAQ — An internationally-accredited team of Nunavik firefighters will be battling fires across the region by 2014.

That’s the goal of the Kativik Regional Government’s department of civil security, which has begun a region-wide recruitment for volunteer firefighters interested in enrolling in a 300-hour firefighting course.

“Two-three years from now, we’ll have professionally-trained firefighters, as opposed to friends and neighbours doing the best they can,” said Craig Lingard, the KRG’s civil security coordinator.

The program, set to launch in October, aims to train roughly 15 firefighters per Nunavik community over the next two years, or more than 200 across the region.

Firefighters who complete the training will receive certification recognized by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress.

The training will be give by eight Nunavimmiut who are qualified as instructors through Quebec’s firefighting training institution, led by retired Nunavik firefighter and training coordinator Michel Morin.

Instructors will travel throughout the region, giving training in a given community roughly one weekend per month over the next two and a half years, Lingard said.

Trainees will be examined at the end of each of the four training modules, he said.

“It’s an ambitious goal but one [in which] we’re committed to succeeding,” he said. “At any given time volunteers can be busy, but we’re hoping this will ensure ten qualified firefighters per call.”

Firefighter training was one of the major elements of Nunavik’s fire safety cover plan, adopted by the KRG last February to bring fire protection services in the region up to Quebec standards.

The plan calls for nearly $10 million of provincial money for new firefighting and fire prevention training, new equipment and infrastructure.

Firefighter training alone will cost about $2,000,000, Lingard said, paid for with money from the KRG and the provincial department of public security.

Anyone aged 18 and older is eligible for training. Interested trainees must go to their municipal office before September 30 to fill out an application form. For more information, send an email to civilsecurity@krg.ca.