8t SA.PETY DIVISION

AUGUST 1997

A United Fire &Safety Division
n July 14th, 1997, John Vokes
was appointed Director of the
Fire & Safety Division of the
Justice Institute of BC. This division
unites the Fire Academy, located at the
New Westminster Campus, and the Fire
& Safety Training Centre, located at the
Maple Ridge Campus.
John came to the Justice Institute in
February of 1997 as Manager of Fire
Academy Programs. Prior to that, he was
with the Office of the Fire Commissioner
for 18 years. During that time, he served
as an Inspector in Vancouver and in the
Kootenay Region, and then as Regional
Fire Commissioner for the Kootenay
Region, and finally, as Deputy Fire
Commissioner in charge of Policy and
Operations in Victoria. John began his
career in the fire service by serving for
nine years with the Hamilton (Ontario)
Fire Department.
The uniting of the Fire Academy and
the Fire & Safety Training Centre is a
natural move as many of the clients and
client needs are the same. In the new
structure, the two units w:ill be equal,
working side by side and reporting to
the same Director.
The Fire Academy will operate under
the management of Bob Aldcorn. Bob
and his staff are primarily responsible for
the training system based on BC Fire
Service standards as well as the
examination system and record keeping
function for both campuses. The Fire
Academy will continue to develop
training standards and is responsible for
ensuring that accredited programs are
available for fire service and industrial
clients. The Fire Academy will also be

O

"In the new structure,
the two units will be equal,
working side by side and
reporting to the same Director."

responsible for ensuring that a cost
effective and accessible training program
is available to enable fire department and
industrial fire brigade personnel to
receive training which meets BC Fire
Service Standards. This includes fire
fighter and fire officer training as well
as current and future offerings in specific
disciplines such as fire prevention and
fire investigation. The Fire Academy will
continue to offer contract services to
clients in the area of custom designed
programs on a cost recovery basis.
Responsibility for the on-going
success of the pre-employment Fire
Fighter Recruit Training Program will be
shared by the Fire Academy and the Fire
& Safety Training Centre.
The Fire & Safety Training Centre at
the Maple Ridge campus is managed by
Dan Murphy. Dan and his staff are
responsible for hands-on fire and safety
training and operate that site on a full
cost recovery basis. Training offered
through FSTC covers a wide range of
topics including hazardous materials
training, live fire training for the fire
service, industry and marine fire fighters,
auto extrication, and more. The FSTC
can customize courses to meet individual
client needs. Some courses are accredited
through IFSAC. Training is available at

the Maple Ridge campus or at other
suitable locations throughout the
province.
Under the new structure, John Lewis
will continue to assume responsibility for
marketing and development.
In the new division, greater emphasis
will be placed on partnering in the quest
to offer cost effective training to a greater
number of clients outside of the Lower
Mainland. Partnering will occur using
community colleges where this serves as
an advantage to clients or through a liaise
with fire service associations, individual
fire departments and directly with
industry. The decision to use partners will
focus on the needs of the client while
maintaining a high degree of service,
quality and integrity in the delivery of
the product being offered.
It is with a great deal of optimism that
the Fire and Safety Division embarks on
this new direction to meet client training
needs.

Note to Evaluators ...
Just a reminder that practical
requh"ed for
Haz-Mat Awarene s effective
February 1st, 1997. Thepractical
checklist is required to comply
"'ith the accreditation that bas
bl'en granted to the Haz-Mat
Awareness level program and
Ws-0 as required under Nf'PA 472.
Should you ha,·e any questions
related to this, please give Jack
'IJler a call at 528-5680.
nalu~tJons are

STANDARDS & CURRICULUM NEWS

Most of you know by now that the funding to the Justice Institute
Fire Academy from the Office of the Fire Commissioner was
discontinued on November 1, 1996. As a result, the responsibility for
development and updating of fire service standards has been delegated
to the Justice Institute Fire Academy. Completed standards are still
submitted to the Fire Commissioner and the Fire Safety Advisory
Council for acceptance prior to the Fire Commissioner forwarding them
to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval and
signature. The make up of the Standards and Curriculum Committee
remains the same and input from the fire service, local government
elected officials and administrators, as well as other interested parties
is still valued and welcomed and will be solicited in the same manner
as before.
Of note, the third draft of the BC Fire Officer Standard and the second
draft of the BC Fire Service Instructor Standard have been sent out and
comments are invited. We look forward to your comments and input
into these important documents.
Standard

Curriculum

--~---------- -----

BC Fire Fighter Standard

------~-------

tFSTA Essentials - 3rd Edllion
see Cross-Reference for Curriculum
(Fire Academy)

- - - - - -- - - -- --·- -- ------ -- - - --· - --·BC Fire Inspector Standard

Fire Prevention Inspector Prour·am
(Fire Academy)

BC Industrial Fire Brigades Standard

TBA

BC Fire Department Vehicle Driver/
Operator Standard

Emergency Vehicle Operations (EVO)
Program (Fire & Safety Division)

- - - - - - - ---TBA

BC Public Fire and Life Safety
Educa~or Standard

BC Fire Service Instructor Stand81d,
2nd Draft

Instructor 2 Under Development

l11structor 1 Currently in Use,

BC Fit e Office!" S t~mdard, 3rd Draft

TBA; Currently Under Development

NOTICES:

1

THE FIRE ACADEMY has
maintained a waiting list of eligible
candidates who have completed T0-1
and are ready for T0-2. In order to
accommodate the backlog of candidates
we have scheduled three sessions on the
following dates: September 25 to 28,
October 23 to 27 and February 19 to 22.
A Fire Academy program assistant
will contact eligible candidates.

2

2

COMPANY OFFICER Block 10 and
Command Officer Block 7, both
scheduled for October,have been
postponed due to the insufficient number
of eligible candidates. These will be
rescheduled for 1998.

Adjunct Instructor -

Do You Have
What It Takes?
If you are interested in being an
instructor with the Fire & Safety
Division, here's what we are looking for:

Scope of the Position
Adjunct instructors develop, deliver,
and coordinate courses in fire
suppression and other related subjects.
Programs may include fire fighter, fire
officer, hazardous materials, auto
extrication, marine emergency duties,
confined space, high angle, and
instructional techniques. An adjunct is
also required to be a safety officer.
Knowledge and Skills
• Minimum 5 years experience as a fire
fighter in fire suppression, or as a fire
inspector in fire prevention etc.
• Successful completion of Training
Officer I & II or equivalent.
• Certification in subject area to be
taught.
• Demonstrated ability in subject area
to be taught.
• Experience in course development
with demonstrated research and
writing abilities.
• Experience in the use of different
delivery formats, lecture, hands on,
tutoring etc.
• Experience with the use of state of the
art presentation media.
Live fire instructors will also be
required to complete an apprenticeship
program to familiarize themselves with
the site, safety procedures, and live fire
curriculum design.
Even though there are no immediate
openings for adjunct instructors, we
invite you to apply to the Director of the
Fire and Safety Division.

FIRE & SAFETY DIVISION NEWS

Executive Development for Fire Officers and Municipal Managers
The Fire Academy will deliver a
two-week intensive program,
November 17 - 28, 1997 for career and
volunteer Fire Officers. This program
is also suitable for industrial
department officers and municipal
managers. The program is designed to
cover
the
operational
and
administrative aspects of Chief Officer
duties. The program begins with a half
day in-basket exercise designed to deal
with a number of key issues these
positions encounter on a day-to-day
basis. The remainder of the program
deals with these issues in a more
indepth manner. An open forum with
a panel of municipal administrators is
scheduled at the end of the program.

The intent of this program is to learn
how to handle real life situations
encountered by individuals operating at
a senior officer level.
Some of the topics covered are:
• Effective Labour Management
Relations
• Critical Incident Stress
• Employee
Selection
and
Screening
• Successful presentations
• Strategic planning
• Decision Making and Problem
Solving
• Risk Management
and others
Tuition fee for the course is $1000.00
and includes all educational materials.

IFSTA Essentials 4th Edition
Announced

-------1

____i

-__ ;·

~-=·.:

_,/

,'

We have been advised by IFSTA that a Fourth Edition of the popular training
manual is being published and will be available early in 1998. The main differences
in the Fourth Edition are in the areas of photographs and formatting as opposed to
content. Many departments have recently purchased the Third Edition as the
curriculum for their training. A Second Edition of the Essentials Curriculum package
will also be released in 1998 to support the changeover in NFPA 1001 to Job
Performance Requirements (JPRs)- scenario based training.
In announcing Essentials Fourth Edition, staff at IFSTA have suggested that
departments who are currently using the Third Edition can continue to use that
edition of Essentials, while departments who do not have the Third Edition should
consider going straight to Essentials Fourth Edition. The same would apply for the
Essentials Curriculum Package. IFSTA will continue to support both the previous
and new edition until further notice.
IFSTA has also advised that the fire service should expect a major change in the
Fifth Edition of Essentials and the IFSTA Essentials Curriculum Third Edition
package, which will be released in 2002. This will reflect a major re-write ofNFPA
1001 that will incorporate Fire Fighter 1 and Fire Fighter 2 into one basic fire
fighter training standard.
We will keep the fire service informed well in advance of any deadlines for
change in order that they can make their decisions on the package that will best
meet their training needs. In addition, any discounts which are available from IFS TA
for the previous editions will be passed on to the fire service.
AUGUST 1997

There are evaluated assignments and a
certificate of achievement awarded to
successful candidates.
Fourteen fire officers from eleven
departments recently completed the Fire
Academy Executive Development Course.

Congratulations to the
First Fire Prevention
Inspector Program
Graduates
We at the Justice Institntc Fire
Academy arc very plea~ed t •
11.·cognize the :iccnmplislunenfs of tile
fir::.t grnJuating class in the Fire
Pre\-cution lnspcdor l'rogrnm .
The Fire Preventh1n Ins pc ctur
Proµ am is a distance lcami1 r; cour .5c
consisting of 11 home· study blocks
and a 12th block of four days ot
practi ul applkntion of the ks sons
I~·:uned, The Fir<"! Prevention Inspect r
Progr:im is rated nt 740 hours of ~ludy.
and includes 3GO examiu:ition
yucstions and at le:ist 100 pages of
written assignments.
Congratulations to each of lhe Fire
Prevention Inspector Program
gradu3tes:
Femle
Brian Schmitz
Gold River
D:\11 U.igblou
Kamlnops
Gary :McCall
Kitimat
Davi! Underdown
N. Vancouver Lynette Hughes
C>ak llay
Doug Macaulay
Pcnticton
Andrew (Mnc)
Lod..hart
Port .Alb~nti
I,arry :McGifforcl
Re\·clstokc
Dale Davis
Surr:y
Petc-r Choy
Dau Sheel
Whistler
Geoff Playfair
Steven Doyfo
\Vllite Rock
Phil Lemire

3

STAFF LISTING: FIRE & SAFETY DIVISION

John B. Vokes ....................... 528-5666
Director, Fire and Safety Division:
responsible for overseeing the Fire
Academy in New Westminster and the
Fire & Safety Training Centre in Maple
Ridge.
Pat Abercrombie ................. 528-5670
Supervisor - Administrative Services,
Fire & Safety Division: Office Manager,
assistant to the Director of the Fire &
Safety Division and to the Deputy
Director of the Fire Academy.

Fire Academy
Robert W. Aldcorn .............. 528~5671
Deputy Director of the Fire Academy:
responsible for the Recruit Program and
most recently the development of the Fire
Officer I and Fire Officer II programs.

Marianne Gottfried ............. 528-5664
Coordinator: responsible for fee for
services courses such as Recruit
Screening and Intro to the Fire Service.
Sherri McLennan ................ 528-5675
Program Assistant: sends out Distance
Education course material, exams,
results and invoices for the Officer
Training program, maintains hard file
student records and the Fire Academy
mailing list.

FIRE & SAFETY
DIVISION

Marcela Popovici ................. 528-5674
Program Assistant: sets up exam
requests, generates and sends out exams
for the Certification, B.C. Fire Fighter
Programs, and Department adininistered
exams.
Leona Prill ........................... 528-5672
Program Assistant: marks exams, sends
out results and maintains student records.
Responsible for student registration,
exam generation and marking exams for
the Officer Training Program.
Cres Reyes ........................... 528-5676
Systems Analyst: responsible for the Fire
Academy exam department. Works half
time for the Fire Academy and half time
for the Justice Institute. Maintains the
exam department computer system.
Jack Tyler·............................. 528-5680
Instructor/Coordinator: responsible for
Fire Fighter Training, Field Trainer
Program, Evaluation Program, Basic for
New Departments, C0-10, and CM-7.

NEWS

Fire &.Safety Training Centre

Stacey Ader .... 526-5657 (Main Line)
Receptionist: receives orders and
distributes IFSTA and Edukit materials.
Jane Garapick ..................... 528-5668
Progron Assistant: works with
coordinators as course secretary on
programs such as Field Training, Intro
to the Fire Service and the Recruit
Program. Jane is also the secretary to the
Fire Academy Standards & Curriculum
Committee.

1be FIRE AND SAFETY Drv1sroN NEWS is
published by the Fire and Safety
Division, Justice Institute of British
Columbia, 715 McBride Boulevard, New
Westminster, B.C. V3L 5T4. Telephone
528-5657, fax 528-5660.

John B. Vokes, Publisher
Pat Abercrombie, Editor

4

Jackie Goodwin ................... 528-5679
Coordinator: coordinates the Distance
Education programs, Officer Training
Programs, Executive Development,
T0-2 and FPL

Dan Murphy ....................... 462-1000
Manager - Fire & Safety Training
Centre: responsible for the operation of
the facility.
John Lewis ........................... 462-1000
(New West. 528-5669)
Manager - Fire & Safety Training
Centre: responsible for marketing and
developing programs for the facility.

Works half-time at JI in New
Westminster.
Mike McNaught .................. 462-1000
Instructor/Co-ordinator: responsible for
the co-ordination/instruction of
Hazardous Materials Emergency
Response, Industrial and Marine
programs.
Merlin Klassen .................... 462-1000
Instructor/Co-ordinator: responsible for
the co-ordination/instruction of fire
service programs and for the Recruit
Program.
John Consiglio ..................... 462-1000
Instructor: Hazardous Materials
Emergency Response, and Basic Tank
Car Safety.
Ken Ruddick ........................ 462-1000
Instructor: Hazardous Materials
Emergency Response, Spill Control,
Marine and Industrial brigade courses.
Walter Premier .................... 462-1000
Instructor: Hazardous Materials
Emergency Response, Marine and
Industrial brigade courses.
Mark Smitton ..................... 462-1000
Scientific Technical Officer: provides
support to run essential "hands-on"
component of the training done at FSTC.
Kevin Perkin ........................ 462-1000
Scientific Technical Officer: provides
support to run essential "hands-on"
component of the training done at FSTC.
Kevin Harwood ................... 462-1000
Scientific Technical Officer: provides
support to run essential "hands-on"
component of the training done at FSTC.
Fran Kemp ........................... 462-1000
Program Assistant: provides clerical
support to FSTC managers and
instructors.
Melanie Tadla ..................... 462-1000
Program Assistant: provides clerical
support to FSTC managers and
instructors.

Contributions to the newsletter
are welcome.
Pat Abercrombie, fax 528-5660.
FmE & SAFETY DIVISION NEWS