One of Altona Rhineland Emergency Services (ARES) longest serving members has hung up his helmet.
Barry Friesen has been a member of the Altona fire department since February 1991. After 33 years, he’s moving on to another adventure as assistant municipal emergency coordinator with the Town of Altona and the RM of Rhineland.
Friesen recalls how his firefighting career began when a couple of friends in the department suggested he join.
“It was so much more than I thought it would be. It’s not just fighting fires, it’s also the training that goes into it, the fire science, why we do the things we do, and when we do them, and how we do it. When that all clicks in you think, ‘This is kinda interesting.’”
Climbing the ranks saw him evolve from rookie firefighter to lieutenant, to captain, and ultimately to deputy chief.
“It went to where I took a lead role in the firefighting, and you start to learn more tactics which require more training. Just about half my career here has been as deputy chief. I taught Level 1 firefighting three or four times over my years here. I taught the EMR course to our guys when we used to run the ambulance. And then the regular monthly training on top of that.”
Friesen says he’s enjoyed his time with the department for a variety of reasons.
“You spend so much time working here, training with all these people. When you do the Level 1, you spend all winter here, from September every week until April. And when they’re finished and do their testing, and they feel that pride, that feels amazing as an instructor as well.”
Most of the training was in-house, but Friesen says, years ago, Enbridge would send one member from Altona and Gretna to Sarnia every year for training.
“I got to go twice for that. It’s more industrial training. There were also annual fire conferences in Brandon. We would try to send some people every year. I also enjoyed training other fire departments in the province through the Emergency Service College, so I went to different departments and worked with them. I’ve done that since 2000. I met a lot of really interesting people across the province that way. It’s been just great.”
In 2002, Friesen and retired assistant chief James Stoesz traveled to New York City to look at a heavy rescue unit to purchase. While there, they visited Ground Zero where the World Trade Centre buildings once stood.
“It was very weird to see the size of that empty space,” Friesen reflects. “We lost a lot of brothers that day.”
Through the years, there have been a host of great memories with the crew, but none of this journey would have been possible, he says, without the support of his wife, Carla.
“You’re gone Monday nights, and two training sessions a week. At the chief level, there’s another meeting once a month for the mutual aid district. Plus, calls that come whenever. She knew that and she was always supportive.”
Some of the hard memories included responding to the fatalities at CSP Foods years ago, and a number of bad car crashes, but, thankfully, Friesen says there have been far more good outcomes than bad ones.
“As a firefighter you always train for the worst, like when you rescue someone out of a burning building. It was three years ago, we had a lady who was not able to get out of the basement of her house, and we had guys go in and get her out. That’s why we do this. There’s been car accidents where we’ve been able to get people out of their vehicles and get them to EMS. Those are good stories.”
Friesen says he’s looking forward to his new role and sees it as a natural progression.
“It’s a nice change. Even as an EMO coordinator, we will be in contact with the fire department, so it will be good to have some of that background knowledge about what the crew is doing on the ground.”
Chief Greg Zimmerman says Friesen will be missed at the fire hall.
“It’s been wonderful working with Barry, already having worked many years as deputy chief when I arrived here seven years ago. He’s taking a lot of knowledge with him. I wish him all the best in his new role.”
