Yorkton Fire looking local for new recruits
Yorkton Fire Protection Services want to bolster its staff with some homegrown talent.
Worries of attrition, coupled with a year without Parkland College’s full-time 1001 firefighter training program, created a need for new recruits.
A training program is expected to begin in November, running six months, with successful candidates and graduates moving to the Yorkton Fire Department’s temporary staff, along with the ability to respond and provide operational support through the department’s auxiliary members. The training will provide professional qualifications, according to Fire Chief Trevor Morrissey.
“We're looking for local people for local flavor with training being the emphasis, [training] with our equipment, in our city, to personalize it so we can build the best fire force that we can,” Morrissey said.
Parkland College took a year off of its Fire Training Program, due to the affects surrounding COVID-19 while also having to make improvements at its training site in Melville, according to the college. It is still continuing Industrial Fire training, which is shorter than the full-time course and specific training for certain organizations. The next intake is expected to begin in July 2023.
Still, the year gap created some worry for Morrissey and the rest of the fire department.
“The attrition rates are raising again, so we have a lot of retirements, both locally we have retirements and throughout the province, which usually you see movement of firefighters from centres to other centres, which has put a strain on our resources. So we want to make sure that we're never falling short with responders in our department,” he said.
“We kind of rely [on Parkland College]. We have a lot of career individuals here that have gone through that program. So as they work through those challenges, we need to pick up some slack on our end to serve our business model.”
The program will include an in-depth recruiting process, including a digital application, aptitude testing, physical fitness testing, panel review and background checks, followed by the training itself.
Participants will be paid an hourly wage while training, along with hourly pay once training is complete.
You can apply for the recruitment process on the City of Yorkton’s website.
There will also be an informational night held on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Yorkton Fire Station.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.