In Quebec, Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Saguenay and Granby, training rooms are fitted out in fire barracks. Firefighters in duty can train there during off -peak periods. Meanwhile, in Trois-Rivières, dumbbells were “seized” last week, following a warning launched by the Directorate of Fire Security and Civil Security.
“We would like our management to allow us to train. Being in good shape is part of our profession. When we wear our “bunker” and our respiratory system, we drag more than 60 pounds. You have to be in good shape for that. ”— A firefighter who requested anonymity, fearing reprisals from his employer
In an email communication, whose information coop has obtained a copy, the director of operations, Carl Boulianne, summoned the captains of a faulty barracks to withdraw sports equipment discovered during a recent inspection, otherwise he was going to “recover them on the way”.
The reason invoked: sport and training are not allowed on working time and are “contrary to the orientations of the service”.
Chef Boulianne has made his threat. The day after his email, he visited the barracks in question. And he left with a recycling tank filled with dumbbells and weights.
Neither the director of operations nor the director of fire safety, Dany Cloutier, were available to answer our questions. The union did not want to comment on the situation.
Formal prohibition
The Communications Department of the City of Trois-Rivières confirms that it is prohibited for Trifluvian firefighters to train or indulge in any sports activity while they are in office.
This rule aims to “ensure that the workplace as well as the equipment employed by the staff meet Health and safety standards”.
The City ensures that it encourages training and maintaining the achievements of its teams in fire safety, but at its training and training center for firefighters and pumpmen, inaugurated in 2021.
No Trois-Rivières fire station has a training room. (Stéphane Lessard/Archives Le Nouvelliste)
One of the six barracks is located one kilometer from this center intended for the improvement and the implementation of fire safety techniques. The other five are at distances varying between four and 20 kilometers.
The city adds that firefighters have free access – apart from their working hours – to a training room, also located several kilometers from the barracks.
-“More at risk”
Professor in the Department of Physical Activity of the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières, Philippe Gendron is interested in the physiological challenges linked to the profession of firefighter as part of his research. He is categorical: a formal firefighter is a better firefighter.
“A firefighter in poor physical condition is more at risk of not being able to accomplish all the tasks of the profession. And one of the critical and essential tasks may be to have to save a person. ”— Philippe Gendron, professor in physical activity at UQTR
The researcher is convinced that allowing firefighters to move during working hours is the best way to adopt healthy lifestyles. He specifies that the risks of accident when practicing physical barracks in barracks are much smaller than during an intervention.
A firefighter whose physical condition leaves something to be desired is much more likely to injure himself, according to him. Especially since half of the deaths of firefighters in duty are attributable to cardiovascular disease, according to an American study.
“The objective is to give the maximum of tools to the firefighters to do their job well. Offering time and supervision to train is a tool, ”he adds.
Allowed and encouraged elsewhere
By maintaining this ban, the Trois-Rivières fire service is a horseman alone among those of the big cities in the province.
In Quebec, the 16 barracks have a training room. The costs related to the purchase of equipment is assumed by the firefighters. A kinesiology firm has been initiated to develop physical packaging programs specifically suited to firefighters.
In addition to the training rooms, the firefighters from Gatineau, Sherbrooke and Granby have access to various sports equipment – basketball baskets, badminton nets and crossfit devices – in barracks.
Some services allow the practice of running nearby. In Saguenay, the Health and Security Committee is studying the possibility that other physical activities that indoor training can be authorized.
In all these services, firefighters are encouraged to move during working hours, provided they respect operational constraints and be ready to intervene at any time.
Situation turned ridiculous
The situation inspired a humorous Facebook page on firefighters. (Facebook / Fireman Memes Québec)
The situation prevailing in Trois-Rivières has drawn the attention of managers from the Facebook page “Fireman Memes Québec”. A caricature showing a firefighter overwhelming in front of Saint-Pierre was recently published on this humorous page. We clearly distinguish the logo from the three-rivières fire safety service on the Largishness behind which the Guardian of the Portes of Paradise is held.
