Cypress County Fire Services: Training and focused through 2024

Commentator/Courier Photo submitted. GOOD SEASON: Cypress County Emergency Services Elkwater Station completing the FireSmart Home Assessment training course.

By Nerissa McNaughton
Southern Alberta Newspapers

Jason Linton, Emergency Services Coordinator & Fire Chief, Cypress County Fire Services, is happy to announce that the 2024 season, so far, has seen a reduced volume of calls.

“There have been no major fires,” he shares. “There were a couple of larger fires in March and April, but overall our call volume has been down. We have not even had a lot of wildfires in the area. Small ones, but nothing out of control like we have seen in the past.”

That means, there was plenty of time for training.

“This year we ran an advanced internal medical first aid course,” explains Linton. “We offer both the medical national certificate course and medical non-certificate course in-house. We actively undergo medical training to match community service demands.”

The Service also piloted its first non-certificate family First Aid course for the public.

“This professionally-taught course was offered at no cost. Our belief is that everyone should know first aid and CPR. We share knowledge and pass it on. Follow us on Facebook to see when courses are offered and use the link provided there to sign up.”

Linton adds that recruitment is ongoing for the pay-per-call team. To learn the requirements and apply, visit http://www.cypress.ab.ca/p/fire-services.

Cypress County Fires Services is very active in the community, topping a couple thousand combined hours of volunteering in 2023. The Service was active at events like Christmas in the Park and a variety of local community days, among others.

“Our volunteer hour count is not ready for 2024 yet, but we are out there a lot,” says Linton. “We also hosted two FireSmart days.”

Whether training, presenting, volunteering, or rescuing, Cypress County Fire Services is always active in the community.