Port Hardy Fire Rescue (PHFR) hasn’t had the opportunity to do much hands-on training lately due to COVID-19, but thanks to restrictions being loosened, the team finally got back together June 20-21, along with a few other firefighters from the North Island.
“Port Hardy Fire was happy to get back to a bit of normalcy and host some hands-on training, complete with masks and lots of sanitizer,” said PHFR Information Officer Adam Harding. “On June 20-21, we were pleased to host Prepare4/Rescue from Vancouver including owner Nathan Pocock and two of his instructors. Nathan hauled a loaded trailer to the North Island complete with three door props, through the lock props, a full complement of halligans, axes, and hooks, and enough respectful entry tools to break into a bank vault.”
According to Harding, day one of the training focused on “conventional irons / basic forcible entry with one and two firefighters, while day two introduced low visibility and restricted environments to challenge students even more, and also introduced and built upon the concepts of respectful entry and ‘through the lock.’”
In total, 22 firefighters took part in the training weekend from North Island fire departments and mutual aid departments including Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Hyde Creek, Sointula, and Alert Bay.
“A big thank-you to our firefighters for giving up the Father’s Day weekend to train, and also to Nathan and his crew for making the trek to the North Island,” added Harding.
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