The man who has likely been present during times of crisis for more Castlegar residents than any other is hanging up his hat at the end of April.
Castlegar’s long-time fire chief Gerry Rempel is retiring after serving 44 years in fire protection services. Rempel started his career at the age of 16 as a summer firefighter with the Ministry of Forests.
Rempel began volunteering for the Castlegar Fire Department in 1975, at the age of 20. In 1981 he began working full time for Transport Canada with Airport Crash Rescue Services at the Castlegar Airport. In April of 1991, he moved to the position of deputy chief with the Castlegar Fire Department, but only stayed in that position for about seven months before becoming the fire chief.
“This department has really changed since the old days when I first started,” said Rempel. “We dealt mainly with fires, now the demands are a lot more.” Last year the department responded to over 900 calls. The department also takes care of building inspections and fire prevention services.
Rempel marks the amalgamation of the original two fire halls — downtown Castlegar and Kinnaird — and the building of the new fire hall in 1999 as one of the highlights of his career. “Working out of one hall — its more effective this way,” explained Rempel. “All the guys are working together every week rather than two separate groups.”
Rempel will still be seen around the fire hall as a volunteer in the capacity of critical incident management and emotional support person.
“We see some pretty ugly stuff at times,” explained Rempel. “Years ago that was never talked about, but times are different now and you need to provide support — its a pretty important aspect of any emergency service.”
He also is part of the Critical Incident Stress Team for the West Kootenay. “I’ll be monitoring that kind of stuff on a volunteer basis — and when they have a tough call, I’ll come out.”
Walking away from public service altogether just wouldn’t work for Rempel. “It is so much of your life. In a town this size, you get to know a lot of people,” he said.
Knowing so many people has its ups and downs. “When you get a call, it is kind of a two-way thing. You are glad you can be there to help them, but on the other side of the coin it also compounds the effects of a lousy call — you know the people,” Rempel explained. “Its not only dealing with the incident, but you also deal with the fact that you know them. There’s not many calls I have been on that I didn’t know the people, or in some way know of the people.”
Rempel has experienced many family-time interruptions over the years, including having to rush out of two of his daughter’s graduation ceremonies. One of Castlegar’s largest fires on record — the Castlegar Hotel — occurred on a Christmas morning.
The fire chief needs to respond quickly to any fire, often arriving before the equipment arrives, to asses the safety hazards and develop a strategy. So in a sense, he is always on call. “In the old days, we didn’t do that — we just arrived on the truck,” said Rempel.
When asked about the worst incident he experienced Rempel stated, “There are lots of worst ones and retiring won’t make those disappear. People that you respond to that didn’t make it — you never forget those.”
As for future plans, Rempel is looking forward to spending more time with his two-and-a-half year-old grandson. He will also temporarily stay on as the West Kootenay Regional Airport manager until a new management plan is in place.
Rempel will also continue his volunteer work with the Castlegar Air Cadets and his work as an aboriginal elder with the Circle of Indigenous Nations Society and the Selkirk College aboriginal support network.
Is there anything about the job he won’t miss? Interrupted sleep.
“I’m hoping I will get to sleep through most nights,” said Rempel. “I can’t remember the last time I slept through a night. But on the other hand, you still get the opportunity to help somebody, so it is a conflicting thing.”
“I’m appreciative to this community. I am thankful I was able to do this job for all of these years. It’s not a job everybody gets to do — help people when they need it most.”
Rempel is confident that things at the Castlegar fire hall are going to continue to move forward. “I think the department is in good hands,” he said, “with Sam [Lattanzio], Duane [Monsen] and Nick [Ahlefeld] here, I am very comfortable.”
