Inside, it looks like a home: there's a kitchen, a living area, a bedroom and a bathroom. But when needed, the rooms will fill up with smoke and fire up to 500° F at the five-foot level, while firefighters rush in for some exciting and realistic training practice.
This training centre at Otter Point Fire Department, nestled in the forest in the little town of Sooke, is significant. "It's the only Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) certified training centre on the island," said John McCrea, fire chief.
While the Otter Point Fire Department responds to typically just under 200 calls each year – about half of which are first responder calls – the department is constantly busy, with more than 25 departments bringing in their firefighters to do training.
"It's a way that we can really contribute to firefighting when we don't have a lot of structure fires ourselves," McCrea said.
Over its 44-year history, the Otter Point Fire Department has evolved from a small operation into a critical pillar of the region's firefighting efforts.
At the helm is McCrea, who has dedicated nearly 30 years to the department and served as chief twice. McCrea got involved in firefighting almost by accident after a friend suggested he join the fire hall. What started as a simple way to meet people and give back to the community quickly became a passion.
Just two days after joining, he was put into a live fire training exercise, and a spark was lit inside him.
"I came out of that fire knowing, yeah, this is what I want to do," he said.
The adrenaline rush mixed with the desire to help people has driven McCrea ever since, and it's what drives the 20-plus volunteers at the station. While the chief and assistant chief hold paid positions, the rest of the crew are volunteers. It isn't an unusual model in Canada; volunteer firefighters make up over 70 per cent of firefighters across the country, according to a 2022 report from the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.
Although some departments offer a paid-on-call system to their volunteers, Otter Point firefighters have declined payment, McCrea said.
"We've offered that to our firefighters here, but they have said no. Their desire is to help the community and they're not here to get paid."
One of the most significant contributions of the department is the creation of the only JIBC-certified training centre on Vancouver Island, providing both live fire training and rented space for departments to conduct their own exercises.
The training centre started with necessity: in the past, firefighters had to travel to Maple Ridge for training, an expensive and time-consuming process involving ferries, hotels and meals. On top of that, burning houses for demolition was also no longer a training option. So, the department sold a piece of the property and got further funding from B.C. gaming grants. A firefighter named Jarvis – currently an active firefighter in Shirley – was the "driving force" developing and overseeing the construction, and the volunteer department came together to build the centre.
"It was like a family up here where we were up here most weekends doing work to make the department better," McCrea recalled.
Though it was a huge accomplishment, it was one of many. The fire department has met all of its goals set in the original 20-year-plan and more.
Thanks to a seismic upgrade and installed generator, the fire hall could be used as an emergency coordination centre and shelter if ever there were to be a disaster situation such as an earthquake or tsunami.
The department remains an integral hub serving the 2,500 residents of the area, built on a foundation of collaboration and preparing firefighters all across Vancouver Island and the gulf islands to fight off whatever potential threat fires can bring, whether that be structural, forest fires, shed fires or more.
"We've got an awesome team," McCrea said. "I'm a strong believer that if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards, so we're always looking to improve."
