New grad helped fire dept. launch extinguisher program

A high-school co-op and summer job that stretched into fall helped a Collingwood woman kick-start her career in fire prevention and inspection. 

Chloe Almas will be wrapping up her work at the Collingwood Fire Department this week, which included creating unique certification and educational programs meant to help people learn how to use fire extinguishers and understand home safety practices to prevent and survive house fires. 

Almas, a Fanshawe College grad in her early 20s, enjoyed her Grade 11 co-op at Collingwood Fire Department where she learned about both the suppression and prevention side of firefighting. 

During college and university tours, Almas and her mom, Sara, stopped by Fanshawe where they learned about the fire inspection and fire safety Education advanced diploma program. After graduating, she said she was “lucky” to land a job with Collingwood Fire Department for a temporary administrative position that expanded to include work with the fire prevention team. 

“I love the atmosphere of fire departments, I love the camaraderie, the teamwork,” said Almas. “For prevention specifically, I learned in my program that fire departments have three lines of defence, which include education, enforcement and suppression.” 

While she was hired for a summer admin position at the hall, Almas’ certification in fire prevention helped her add to the local fire hall’s education offerings. 

She took the material used by fire prevention officers in educational demonstrations and created a fire extinguisher certification program that can be administered to local businesses, non-profit organizations, schools, and more. The annual certification program takes learners through the basics of using fire extinguishers safely and effectively.

The certification training makes use of the department’s fire extinguisher training gear, which simulates a fire on a screen and uses an electronic enabled extinguisher to simulate the action of using the canister and hose to put out the fire on the screen. The trainers can increase the difficulty or simulate different types of fire. 

“It actually mimics a fire,” said fire prevention inspector Jeff Gage, who has been working with Almas to deliver the program, along with Fire Prevention Officer Carl Prochilo. 

“We’ve had the trainer for years, and we’ve used it for doing demonstrations,” said Gage. “When Chloe came on board … we asked her to help us through this program. Chloe literally took what was a demonstration and has turned it into a certification we offer.” 

The program goes through maintenance and standard use of the various types of fire extinguishers, a 10-question test, and using the trainer to put out a simulated fire. 

Currently, the program is offered to vulnerable occupancy non-profit groups (like long-term care and retirement homes and hospitals) and schools for free. 

Launched in July, the program has now certified 113 people, including staff at Pine Villa, Raglan Village, and co-op students from Collingwood Collegiate Institute. 

A new home safety program (non-certified) put together by Almas and the fire prevention team is also available to any member of the public for free, provided they come to the fire station. 

“The presentation is mostly geared around home fire safety and you can take the knowledge into the workforce as well,” said Almas. “It’s important because a lot of fires that occur are residential … so this knowledge and information that people can gain from this presentation could overall reduce property and life lost to fires.”

Almas and Gage don’t know if the certification program exists elsewhere, but they thought it was a good idea for the community. 

“We’ve had some interest from other departments asking if we can pass the information along, and we share everything,” said Gage. 

Both said fire extinguishers are under-used and often forgotten about in people’s homes. 

“A main issue in the home is, first of all, a lot of people don’t have them in the home, and they’re a very good thing to have,” said Almas. “And another thing is if you have them in the home, they’re usually stored in non-accessible spots, for example far under the sink where nobody can reach it.” 

Almas said she wanted to build her career around the two first lines of defence (education and enforcement). 

Though fire departments are traditionally staffed by more males than females, Almas said her Fanshawe class was about 50-50 split. 

“My dream from here, first of all, is just becoming involved with a new fire department,” said Almas, who will be following her mother Sara Almas, into the public service sector. Sara Almas is Collingwood’s clerk. 

“I’m a personable person and I like to talk to a lot of people and that’s why I’m excited for the education portion as well,” said Almas. 

She wraps up her work at Collingwood Fire Department this Friday, but the certification program and home fire safety training she helped create will remain in place. 

For more information about certification programs and fire safety training, you can contact the Collingwood Fire Department by phone at 705-445-3920, by email at [email protected], or visit the station at 45 High Street.