ENTERPRISE - There is no questioning Michael St. Amour's dedication to the Enterprise Fire Department.

Michael St. Amour is the fire chief in Enterprise. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Except for a brief six-month break, St. Amour has been on the department for about 15 years, including the last four years as fire chief.

Even more impressive, he did not live in Enterprise for his first eight years on the department before moving to the community seven years ago.

St. Amour said he joined while working at the now-closed Cash and Carry store in Enterprise while living in Hay River.

"I stayed an extra hour or two to be part of the community on the fire department," he said, adding he would also be on call while working.

St. Amour would later work for Northern Transportation Company Ltd. in Hay River, but remained on the Enterprise Fire Department.

For a year or so about three years ago, St. Amour was also the only member of the department.

"People lost interest because of monetary constraints and council wouldn't pass appropriate budgets for our gear and whatnot," he recalled.

In protest, St. Amour himself quit the department for about six months until council, on which he was also sitting at the time, committed to more funding.

"I said I wasn't going to come back until they funded the department appropriately," he said.

Since then, six others have joined St. Amour as firefighters.

"These people have just joined in the past two years," he said, adding it is a respectable number of firefighters in a community of just 100.

St. Amour said three more members would be optimal, and he is always recruiting.

The Enterprise Fire Department is currently a "defensive" group, which can perform just certain tasks, he explained.

"We can only do so much. We've got limited resources," he said, noting that includes one tanker and a pickup, which is being outfitted for highway response.

Any major fires in Enterprise or area, such as two tanker truck fires last year on Highway 1 – would be handled by the Hay River Fire Department with the Enterprise Fire Department in a support role.

St. Amour said there has not been a house fire, save a chimney fire, in Enterprise in the 15 years he has been on the department.

If there was a house fire, Enterprise firefighters, except for St. Amour, are not trained to take offensive action – such as entering a burning building.

"But that will change in September," he said, noting Enterprise firefighters are scheduled to attend offensive training in Hay River.

While he has offensive firefighting training, he cannot go into a burning house alone.

Until the extra training is completed, the department is able to protect the perimeter of a house fire and adjacent houses, spray water onto a fire, stop traffic, respond to brush fires, and work on fire prevention activities.

Enterprise firefighters will also take training this week in Hay River on extracting victims from vehicles.

St. Amour, 47, first came to Hay River in the early 1990s because his sister and her husband lived there, and he thought it would be a good opportunity.

The father of three said he enjoys the quality of life in the North.

"You got to remember I'm from Montreal, and you go from A to B and it's a two-hour traffic jam, and you have to work two jobs to make ends meet," he said. "Here, you don't have to do that."

In addition, he finds people to be friendly in the North.

Currently, he is also a trustee on the francophone school board for the NWT.

For his efforts on the fire department and for chaperoning young people to events, St. Amour was named the NWT's Volunteer of the Year in 2007.

These days, he works at Wesclean Northern Sales Ltd. and commutes to Hay River.

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