Trevor Carr
When Trevor Carr relocated to Jasper last February, his decision was based not only on his new job, but on the opportunity to continue his role as a volunteer firefighter.
Carr had been living at Sun Peaks Resort and, after three years on the volunteer fire brigade, was one course away from becoming a nationally certified firefighter.
So, when he accepted the position as the manager of the Mount Robson Inn, he wanted to make sure he could finish that last course and continue his volunteer work.
“I had gone to other interviews, but I was kind of being greedy in the fact that I was looking for a spot that had a volunteer fire department,” he said.
Then, a few months after arriving in town, the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade did a recruitment drive and Carr submitted his portfolio, passed the physical assessment as well as the interview, and was accepted in May.
“It was quite exciting,” he said. “It’s a good way to contribute back to the community—help when needed—and it’s a good way to meet new people within the community.
“There’s a wide scope of everybody from every facet of the community, so you kind of get yourself a little bit more involved.”
As well as the social aspect, Carr said he enjoys having the opportunity to put aside his managerial hat every Tuesday night for practice, as well as when he’s out on calls.
“I like that I’m not the boss when I go to the fire department. I like that I’m a volunteer firefighter and I have the officers and chiefs ahead of me.
“The other part of it is, you’re learning life skills that you might not normally get the opportunity [to learn].”
Kim Stark
Kim Stark has dreamed of becoming a volunteer firefighter for 15 years, but the timing was never right.
It seemed every time the department was hiring, life got in the way.
“You have to have flexibility [to be a firefighter], so it wasn’t an option when I was the baker, the cashier, the boss,” she said, referring to when she first purchased the Bear Paw and Other Paw bakeries.
But life and work have settled down since those early days. So, last year Stark decided that the next time the brigade put out a call for new recruits she’d put her resume forward and hope for the best—and the best came true in May when she was accepted along with five other recruits.
“I’m not your average firefighter. I’m 5’4 and 115 pounds,” she said with a smirk. “I’m not the girl pulling the 300 pound guy out of the burning building, but there’s a role for me.
“There’s a role for everybody because everybody has a different skill set and can give something and contribute something to the situation, whatever it may be.”
Although unable to fireman-carry a full grown man, that’s not to say Stark isn’t physically fit. As well as being a business owner, she is also a marathon runner, with a goal of running a marathon on every continent. So far she’s completed five—including one in Antarctica.
“I’m a little bit of a—I don’t want to say adrenaline junkie, but for lack of a better word, I enjoy high energy things,” she said, while explaining one of her three reasons for joining the brigade.
The others are to help people in need and for the camaraderie.
“The group of guys are awesome ... you’re at a fire call and you feel the people around you are concerned about your safety and their focus is on the same thing as yours.”
Lourdes Nunes
When Lourdes Nunes applied to be a firefighter with the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade, she knew she was pushing herself outside of her element—not because of the physicality of the job, but because of the mechanics of it.
As a massage therapist and fitness trainer, she said it’s not often that she picks up a rotary saw or thinks about the inner workings of a fire engine, but now those things are suddenly on her radar.
“So it’s not even a learning curve—it’s like a learning vertical line,” she said with a laugh.
But that’s what she signed up for—an opportunity to challenge herself and to learn something completely new.
“I’m super eager to learn,” she said, “and the training has been awesome.”
As well as the opportunity to develop new skills, Nunes said she’s also excited to be a part of Jasper’s brigade of enthusiastic and caring volunteer firefighters.
“They’re an amazing group of guys,” she said. “It’s nice to be a part of the team, helping the community and helping people, especially in times of difficulty.
“I’ve gotten so much from being here [in Jasper]. It’s so nice to be able to give back to our community,” and to the people who visit the community, she said.
“It’s an opportunity to show people what we have here, and how we pull together to support people.
“That’s an outstanding feature of this community.”
Beyond her rookie status with the fire brigade, Nunes owns Summit Massage Therapy and Wellness and co-owns the Fitness Network, and she is a seasonal employee with Parks Canada.
Pete Cherniawsky
Pete Cherniawsky moved to Jasper three years ago to live a peaceful life in the mountains.
For 25 years he had been a cop in Edmonton, and 18 of those he worked as part of a SWAT team. It was an exciting and rewarding job—“every boy’s dream job,” Cherniawsky said—but it was also difficult.
“You can’t operate at that level—kicking in doors and going after crack dealers and gun gangsters—you can’t do that every day for the rest of your life; you burn out,” he said.
In coming to Jasper, he and his wife wanted to live a quieter life.
Cherniawsky took a job as a fishing guide during the summer, and supplemented that with work as a hunting guide outside the park in the fall, as well as some consulting work. His wife started her own therapist practice.
But the call of the emergency sirens was powerful, and every time Cherniawsky heard the town alarm blast, he felt the itch to jump in and help.
It took him a few years to convince his wife that it was a good idea to go back on call, but since firefighting isn’t violent like SWAT work, she eventually softened and agreed, and Cherniawsky signed up for the brigade.
He said he loves working with the brigade; that all the members are great and that he’s learning a ton. All he has to put up with is the occasional cop joke lobbed his way.
“I take a lot of heat,” he said with a laugh. “I have to take back 25 years of firefighter jokes and now I put up with doughnut jokes from the firemen, and firefighter jokes from the policeman.”
Mark Smiley
You wouldn’t expect it to be too much of a leap—from EMT to firefighter—but to hear Mark Smiley tell it, it is.
Before he had even thought of signing up for the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade, Smiley often ran into the guys at the scene of accidents, through his work with the ambulance.
He figured there would be a lot of similarities between his job and those on the fire brigade, and while some of the skills are transferable, there are stark differences.
In fact, according to Smiley, it’s “a totally different mindset.”
“Being on the ambulance we show up to the scene and our goal is to get going right away. Fire’s got to stay and secure the scene, and they have to rip the trucks open,” he explained, admitting that the first few times he responded to an accident as a firefighter he felt a little bit strange.
“It was like ‘what do you mean we’re staying here for more than 20 minutes?’”
But the differences don’t just stop with the time spent at the scene of an accident. Smiley explained that there’s a certain amount of respect in the community that comes with being a firefighter. Not that he didn’t get some of that working for the ambulance service, but it reaches a different level on the brigade.
“It’s different. I mean, nobody wants to come take a ride in an ambulance, and everyone wants to take one in a fire truck,” he said with a laugh.
Part of the reason for that is the brigade’s level of community involvement, which is a part of the position Smiley really enjoys. For him, getting a chance to meet and interact with the community is an unexpected perk, but one he is happy to experience.
Jocelyn Nadeau
Jocelyn Nadeau first moved to Jasper seven years ago to take a teaching job at École Desrochers.
He’s always been interested in first responders and emergency services, so when the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade put out a call for new recruits earlier this year, he jumped at the chance.
Nadeau said he loves the position—the sense of community, the ability to give back—but for him it’s been a steep learning curve.
“You don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into when you sign up. You have that ideal picture of what a fireman does at first, but it’s not really that,” he said.
Nadeau readily admits he was pretty green when he first joined the brigade. Coming from a teaching background, he had next to no knowledge of the tools of the trade.
This meant that when he first tried on his gear, he commented that his “outfit” was too big. The guys were quick to correct him, letting him know that his “outfit” was more generally known as “turnout gear.”
“It just goes to show you how far I’m starting from,” he said. “I just [didn’t] have a clue of the jargon that goes with firefighting and the tools that we [used] and what we [did] and how a call [went].”
He’s learned a lot during his six months on the brigade, and he’s getting better at the physical aspects of the job. That is all good, but for Nadeau the most important part of being a firefighter is the proper motive.
“You need to be physically fit, but have the right attitude. Don’t try to go in there and be a hero or anything. I want to learn and I want to give, and that’s what the fire brigade needs.”
Trevor Nichols and Nicole Veerman
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