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DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - Members of the Fort Providence Volunteer Fire Department are more prepared than ever to tackle any possible emergency situation.

Seven members of the department recently completed the NWT Defensive Firefighter Course. The course develops the basic fire fighting skills needed to respond to an alarm, control a fire and reduce the potential risks to property or lives. The course stresses safety, the role of volunteer firefighters, teamwork and proper equipment usage, said Christopher Carson, who instructed the course.

Seven members of the Fort Providence Volunteer Fire Department completed a defensive training course including, from left, Cindi-Rae Harris, Mary Baptiste, instructor Christopher Carson, Jim Snider, Jeremy Kielstra and Craig Rooney. Participants Robyn McLeod and Gavin Head are missing from the photo. - photos courtesy of the Fort Providence Volunteer Fire Department

"The training is designed to keep people safe so we don't lose someone," he said.

Carson, a member of the department, ran the course over two weekends including April 17 to 19 and 24 to 26 as well as the regular Wednesday night practice on April 22. Over those five days the participants learned what it would have taken a whole year to cover during weekly practices, he said.

The training was split between indoor classroom work and outdoor hands-on practice.

In the field the volunteers practiced at an abandoned house in the community that the department uses as a training site.

"They did well," said Carson.

"They worked together as a team."

All of the training gives the members a foundation to build their skills on, he said.

"They are better trained to respond to an incident," Carson said.

On April 26, Stephen Moss, the fire marshal for the NWT, arrived to evaluate the participants' progress.

All seven volunteers passed the practical component of the course. They will know within a few weeks how they did on the written portion.

For one participant, Cindi-Rae Harris, the course was a way to enhance skills and learn more about being a firefighter.

"I got to learn a lot," said Harris, who joined the department in January.

The most enjoyable part of the course was the practical portion, she said. Harris said she liked driving the pumper truck, using leg locks on ladders and learning the different techniques that can be used when directing a hose at a fire.

Using the self-contained breathing apparatus and crawling under the pumper truck was challenging, she said.

The mask takes some getting used to because it suctions to your face and you have to use a certain breathing technique while wearing it, Harris said.

The training will benefit the department, she said. Members of the department who took the course now know more about teamwork, how to co-ordinate when they arrive at the scene of an emergency and what roles they have to play.

"It was a good course," Harris said.

Following the completion of the course all 12 regular members of the fire department have now taken this training, said Andy Sapp, the department's fire chief.

The training is an asset because it gives volunteer members a more complete view of the equipment the department has and how to use it, he said.

"It makes them more confident to work on fires," said Sapp.