INUVIK
Watching members of the Brantford, Ont. fire department respond to a tragic car accident more than 35 years ago inspired Inuvik's fire chief to become a firefighter.

Jim Sawkins, Inuvik's fire chief, is a recipient of a 2015 Fire Service Merit Award. - photo courtesy of Inuvik Fire Department

Jim Sawkins was then a soldier with the 56th Field Artillery Regiment stationed in Brantford, his hometown. While training one day, soldiers heard a crash and ran outside to find a pickup truck flipped on its side after taking a corner too fast.

Sawkins said the truck had caught fire and the male driver was trapped inside.

"Unfortunately, it was a Branford city police officer on his way home from work," he said. "He ended up burning to death inside the vehicle."

While the firefighters at the scene were unable to rescue the man, watching them work made Sawkins realize what he wanted to do with his life.

"I thought, 'This is something I'd like to do,'" he said. "From then then on it was full-bore."

Sawkins who is also the president of the NWT Fire Chief's Association, was recently chosen as the winner of 2015 NWT Fire Service Merit Award from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

"I was very humbled, surprised," Sawkins said. "There are a lot of great things happening in the fire service throughout the NWT that a lot of excellent fire fighters are a part of. To be recognized was most humbling."

Sawkins spent 20 years as a firefighter with the Canadian Air Force before becoming the fire chief of a volunteer department in Tiny, Ont., in 2000. Four years later, he became chief in Muskoka Lakes, Ont., where he was responsible for 175 volunteer firefighters in 10 fire stations.

He then began teaching fire service management and incident command as a civilian instructor with the Canadian Forces in 2010.

After deciding to leave the military, he began looking for positions elsewhere. Sawkins said it was his wife who chose Inuvik.

"The reason I got out of the military was because I wanted that hometown feeling," he said. "The decision was actually made by my wife because of the way we were treated when we came up.

"It's a small town, the people were friendly. I would say thats the strength of Inuvik."

Since moving to Inuvik with his family four years ago, Sawkins has worked to revamp the community's fire department.

He implemented a three-platoon system, which allows one team to respond while one rests at the station. The remaining platoon can stay at home with teams rotating on 12-hour shifts.

He also helped improve education about the National Fire Code, ensured up-to-date training and equipment for members and set up a Rapid Intervention Team made up of two firefighters dedicated to rescuing members of the department if something goes wrong during a fire.

In addition to his his other roles, Sawkins also sits on the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.

Chucker Dewar, territorial fire marshal, said Sawkins' dedication is known throughout the NWT.

"We've benefited from his 35 years of knowledge and experience as a fire chief and a fire fighter," he said. "The community has identified Jim. He installs professionalism in his fire department, that's evident. He's a very dedicated public safety official."

Dewar said the Town of Inuvik is especially pleased with Sawkins' work.

"I think Inuvik considers with Jim there now, that they have one of the finest fire departments in the territory," he said.

Sawkins said the success he's had with the department is reflective of the people he works with every day.

"What makes it more rewarding is the group of fire fighters that I have, they're sponges," he said. "The eagerness, the willingness to learn and to adapt to change, my award wouldn't have happened because I wouldn't have had the success I've had if the firefighters hadn't been receptive to buy into the program."

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