Yes, fires...

BC’s Professional Fire Fighters handle all types of fires - house fires, apartment fires, industrial fires, vehicle fires, wildland fires - to name a few.

The number of fire fighters responding to a fire varies from one jurisdiction to the next, and depends on the severity of the fire. Some jurisdictions immediately respond with two fire suppression personnel, while others send four to six fire fighters per engine.  The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that 15 - 17 personnel respond to a single family house fire, due to the many tasks and responsibilities which need to be taken care of at a fire scene. 

Wildfire Urban Interface

The IAFF is making sure our members are equipped and trained to safely and effectively respond to the challenges of wild land and urban interface fires. Increasingly, dangerous urban interface fires are raging across North America, becoming catastrophic with enormous loss of property and significant risk to human life. IAFF members are faced with a variety of extraordinary challenges that will only worsen if not addressed.

Auto Extrication
and Equipment Rescue

At times, fire fighters are required to stabilize vehicle accident scenes and to plan an efficient and expedient rescue. When a few wasted seconds can cost lives, sometimes the “Jaws of Life” are utilized to cut through the metal frame so we can remove victims from the crashed vehicle. These hydraulic tools are specially designed to remove patients from vehicles.

Often the fire fighter must ensure that the vehicle is stable so it does not shift during the rescue, which could endanger both those that are injured and the emergency personnel on scene.  They help the injured by providing medical assistance – supporting their head and neck, and stabilizing any broken bones, dressing open wounds, etc. – before other medical assistance arrives.

MEDICAL RESPONSE

All of BC’s Professional Fire Fighters are licensed First Responders, and many are EMR trained as well. From a child choking, to a person suffering a heart attack or a fall, the fire fighter provides pre-hospital care when someone is injured or experiences a medical problem. In some departments, fifty to seventy percent of incidents are First Responder or medical type incidents. BC's Professional Fire Fighters are in several municipalities working to expand the level of pre-hospital care so that citizens receive pre-hospital care in a timely manner — “the patient comes first.”

Hazardous Materials Response

The number of unknowns often poses a larger threat than the spill, leak, fire or break. HazMat teams are trained to handle material spills, leaks and fires. They include: natural and chlorine gas leaks, gasoline spills, fuel tanker, rail car, boat and industrial accidents, in addition to chemical spills and radiation leakage.

Hazmat incidents are potentially one of the most dangerous and unpredictable types of calls fire fighters can respond to and every call is a potential HazMat call. Each year thousands of fire fighters are exposed to chemical and biological hazards in the performances of their duties.

Technical Rescue

Technical Rescue can be broken down into many different, but related, disciplines.  Rope rescues, including high angle rescue and confined space rescues both use ropes to other hardware to rig rescue systems to access and remove patients.  Another technical rescue discipline is water rescue - from swift water to ice. 

Fire and Safety Inspections

IAFF FIRE BASED DISPATCH

Public Service Calls

From fire alarms in schools or apartment buildings, to assisting the elderly if they have fallen and are unable to get up, fire fighters often perform public service calls.  9-1-1 operators generally downstream these calls to the fire service and, depending on the department involved, they can constitute a anywhere from a minimal to a significant percentage of the day-to-day work of a fire fighter. 

BCPFFA Burn Fund

Professional fire fighters throughout the province dedicate their time to helping burn survivors.

The BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund (Burn Fund) is dedicated to promoting burn prevention and providing survivor support and recovery programs in the Province of BC and the Yukon. Through its wide range of programs, the Burn Fund supports survivors and their families through their recovery journeys every step of the way. 

Burn injuries are the third leading cause of injury related hospital admission for children under five. While other organizations have the ultimate goal of finding a cure, prevention is the Burn Fund’s cure. The vision of the organization is to see burn injuries prevented wherever possible and when they occur, assist survivors and their families for the best possible outcome through: 

• Survivor support programs and ensuring access to highly trained medical staff and essential equipment; 

• Funding the burn units at VGH and BC Children’s Hospital, among other hospitals. The Burn Fund saw an urgent need for these units and helped to establish the BC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn, Trauma and High Acuity at VGH in 1996. 

• Delivering burn and personal safety awareness education reaching all ages and stages of life.