A new Cree firefighter crew reports for duty

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Firefighters9With proud family members and instructors in attendance, a group of 15 Cree firefighters and trainers received their certification at a celebration dinner at the Hilton Lac Leamy in Gatineau on December 3.

Grand Chief Mathew Coon Come presented the certificates to graduates from all nine Cree communities along with Benoît Laroche, the director of operations and registrar for the École nationale des pompiers du Québec, and Leroy Blacksmith, Regional Fire Marshall for Eeyou Istchee.

“There was a dream that our leaders had. It was a dream to build our communities. To be able to build our institutions,” Coon Come said. “And in building our communities we should be able to have our own people trained to assume the responsibilities and take a personal career choice.”

The job of a firefighter is not without its sacrifices, as these men and women must put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect their communities. “As I’m sitting here, reflecting, thinking about all of the hard work you people have done. What you’ve gone through,” Cone Come said. “I remember when we adopted the fire protection model. We wanted to assume the responsibility to train firefighter personnel, setup our fire departments, and be able to construct our facilities in the communities. Our aim was to have 100 fire chiefs by 2015. We have 26 certified fire chiefs at the moment, which is certainly a cause for celebration.”

Although there were several graduates who are over 40, most are a younger generation of firefighters looking to embark on a career in public service. “There are different stages you have to go through. It took quite awhile to complete them,” said newly certified Waswanipi firefighter Darren Saganash.

Firefighters39Becoming a firefighter requires a certain level of commitment to the community, which was the driving force behind the men and women of the Cree Fire Department. “I like to help people and be involved in my community which is why I chose this type of work,” Saganash added.

Though there has been much progress toward the establishment of a Cree regional fire service, there is still a long way to go to meet the goals set for 2015. Blacksmith, who was certified 10 years ago in Alberta, knows how far the program has come.

“For a graduation like this, it’s touching and motivating for the Cree Nation to know that we have more certified firefighters,” said Blacksmith. “I’m really proud of the graduates and all of their hard work and time that they put into this certification. We have another group that will start in January 2014 that will add another 36 firefighters to the department.”

The only requirement to join the firefighters training program is to be over 18 years old, with men and women being encouraged to join up in order to help make Eeyou Istchee a safer place.

“It does not take muscle. It does not matter how tall, how small, how big or how slim you are. All you need is to gain the experience by practicing. By working as a team, a big problem can become much smaller,” Blacksmith said in a message to potential recruits.

Graduates from the ceremony

Wemindji
Gregory Visitor
Derek Mark
Lindy Georgekish

Waskaganish
Vincent Beauregard
Wilfred Salt

Chisasibi
Ronald Sealhunter
George Napash
Henry Cookish

Mistissini
Tracy Iserhoff
Justus Coon Come
Ryan Gunner
Paul Matoush

Nemaska
Clarence Jolly
Thomas Wapachee

Waswanipi
Darren Saganash
Vincent Blacksmith

Instructors recognized
George Cox
Timothy Stringer

Past Graduates
Charles House
Brian Atychnia
Michael Snowboy
Lee-Roy Blacksmith
Samuel Dixon

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