Suncrest College hopes to continue 'grand history' in revamped firefighting course in Melville

Near Melville, Sask. -

Lynnette Norli never thought she would be a firefighter.

The Melfort-area woman originally believed her calling was para-medicine, but being placed in Melville upon graduation changed everything. In 2018, Norli’s first debriefing after an incident included members of the local fire department, and she was blown away.

“Just seeing how they worked together, the tools they used … they genuinely cared about how each other was doing, how to improve each other — it was what I needed at the time,” she recollected.

Fast forward a few years, Norli ended up taking a closer look at the profession before finding out that just outside her back door, she would be able to become a professional firefighter at Suncrest College — and she hasn’t looked back.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I am not a morning person, and I have no problem getting out of bed — this is what I’m supposed to do.”

Norli is currently one of 14 students in the revamped National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) training program at Suncrest College. Historically, the firefighting program had been a flagship course for the former Parkland College.

On July 1, Parkland merged with the Melfort-area Cumberland College, creating Suncrest, and after pandemic related delays forced the closure of the program following the 2021 academic year, the merger seemed to be the perfect time to relaunch, according to Suncrest President and CEO, Alison Dubreuil.

“We are very excited,” she said. “I think it’s just an opportunity for us to build on the momentum … this is one of many things we look to unveil here in the next little while.

“We are absolutely excited to be back in this space. We have a grand history here, but this was an opportunity for us to expand, to modernize some of our equipment and continue to attract students here locally, with the hope that they stay local.”

Dubreuil’s vision of focusing on recruiting, training and retaining local talent at the firefighting level is shared by not just the College itself, but the multiple agencies who lean on the college to produce good, local talent.

Minister of Advanced Education, Gordon Wyant, said the program is filling a great need.

“You just have to look around and see what’s happening around the country,” he said. “Having this program return to Saskatchewan is pretty important to us.”

Wyant said the program was missed during its short hiatus, having prospective firefighters from Saskatchewan heading out of province to train — or not doing a program whatsoever.

A total of $1.8 million from the province was spent on the college within the last year to revamp the course.

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The students too, were appreciative.

Jesse Peters was born and raised in Yorkton, and he’s another one of the 14 in the first intake back at the training site near Melville, which also came back with a revamped name in 2023 as the “Saskatchewan Emergency Response Institute.”

Peters found out about the program from the local news, and said he loves to be a part of the hard work and dedication of students and staff.

“Its good, its really convenient [being so close to home] … It’s awesome,” he said. “I always wanted to be a first responder … [seeing the program], I said, ‘That’s a good opportunity to take.’”

Peters hopes to become a provincial firefighter in the near future following graduation, but before he gets there, there’s more than just the 14-week course ahead. Following the training program is also the Emergency Medical Responder course, with industrial fire training expansion set for the fall.

The next intake for the NFPA 1001 program will be in spring 2024.

With Suncrest College now underway in its inaugural year, the college now has locations in Canora, Esterhazy, Fort Qu’Appelle, Kamsack, Melfort, Melville, Nipawin, Tisdale, and Yorkton.