A group of Indigenous high school students participated in a firefighter boot camp at the Vancouver Fire Rescue Services training grounds in Strathcona. The event, held on a Saturday, aimed to introduce these students to firefighting skills and career opportunities.

Kyle Peters, a Grade 11 student from the Lilʼwat First Nation, experienced the challenges of handling a fire hose. "Keeping control of the hose is tough work," Peters said. "The water pressure pushes you back. We worked hard just to hold ourselves down so we didn’t go flying back." Four students worked together to manage the hose line connected to a fire truck from Vancouver’s Fire Hall 21, which serves the Musqueam First Nation and features a traditional Indigenous design.

More than a dozen students donned jumpsuits, boots, helmets, and gloves as they rotated through various training stations. They learned essential skills such as hose handling, forcible entry, hydrant tagging, and search-and-rescue techniques in a smoke-filled environment.

This boot camp is the second of its kind, following the inaugural event held in April. It is a collaborative effort involving the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, Musqueam First Nation, and ACCESS, an organization focused on providing educational and training opportunities for Indigenous people in the Lower Mainland. Organizers are already planning additional sessions.

For Peters, the experience was eye-opening. "The job is a lot more fun than I imagined," he said, highlighting the excitement of the day. Organizers aim to inspire Indigenous youth by demonstrating that firefighting can be a viable career path.

Matthias Ballantyne, a firefighter with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services since 2014, helped organize the event on his day off. He emphasized the importance of showing Indigenous youth potential career options. "We are showing them a career path that can happen for them," Ballantyne said.

Growing up in Northern Manitoba, Ballantyne noted that he rarely saw Indigenous individuals in firefighting roles. "I usually saw people in my community go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or a social worker," he explained. He discovered firefighting as a career option at a job fair.

Ballantyne expressed that the program aims to enhance First Nations representation within Vancouver Fire Rescue Services. He views his role as more than just a job; it is a way to give back to the community. "The draw of the work for me was the ability to be able to give back," he said.

While the students at the boot camp are not yet old enough to apply for firefighting positions, Ballantyne believes they will leave with valuable home safety tips and the knowledge that their Nations can support them in pursuing firefighting as a career.