Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services recruits halfway through training
Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services' newest set of recruits are halfway through their training, preparing for their future careers.
They were out on the training grounds Thursday, learning some essential skills they'll need on the job.
"Right now, they're working on entanglements, because sometimes, unfortunately, they might get stuck in a situation where they're tangled up in wires, so they're learning how to address that problem," said the fire training officer Mark Matheson.
"In addition, sometimes if you get trapped in an upper story you might have to bail out of a window, so they're practicing what the procedures are with that."
The class is made up of nine recruits, some travelling from far away to learn.
"I came up from New Brunswick for the wildfires, working in Peace River, Alta., and that's when I noticed the posting here," said Mitch Cormier, one of the recruits.
"I heard a lot of great things about the department so I decided to apply and luck came my way and I got hired, so I’m glad to be here."
The recruits have only been working together the past five weeks, but say they've already built some incredible bonds with their classmates.
"It's been really cool," said another recruit, Tim Carroll.
"At work and outside of work, we're vibing and our lead instructor tells us every few days that people keep asking how our class is and he says it's a great class."
Lethbridge Fire and Emergency services say they've had to increase their recruiting efforts to help keep up with the demand they're seeing and help fill a void in staffing.
"The recruit program is very unique, since I've been here anyway, that we're running more than one recruit class, two a year usually is what we're hitting now." said Matheson.
"It's almost continuous recruiting and training to keep up with the demands."
Graduation for the recruits is set for later this year officials are already accepting applications for their next intake of recruits with training planned for the spring.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.
What's causing the catastrophic rainfall in Kenya?
The torrential rains and deadly floods that have hit Kenya since March have been some of the worst in the country in recent years. Here's how factors combined to create the deadly deluge.