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Harvey Provost wins Latimer award

Firefighters from fire departments all over Westlock County gathered in Jarvie April 9 for the annual firefighters appreciation night.
Glenn Latimer award winner Harvey Provost (centre) receives the plaque from Gail Latimer, and was joined by county public works Supt. Dennis Mueller (left), county reeve
Glenn Latimer award winner Harvey Provost (centre) receives the plaque from Gail Latimer, and was joined by county public works Supt. Dennis Mueller (left), county reeve Charles Navratil and county fire chief John Biro.

Firefighters from fire departments all over Westlock County gathered in Jarvie April 9 for the annual firefighters appreciation night.

More than 100 firefighters, friends and family gathered to celebrate the good work the men and women do to help ensure fires don’t break out, and when they do, to make sure they don’t get out of control.

A central component of the event was the granting of the Glenn Latimer Award, said county fire chief John Biro.

The award is meant to recognize members of the service who go above and beyond the call of duty in their dedication to the public, Biro said.

It was created to carry on the spirit of the late Glenn Latimer, who did many things behind the scenes that people didn’t know about.

He worked long hours, Biro said, to ensure fire safety was carried out in the county, including working with children to make sure they knew proper fire safety lessons.

This year, Harvey Provost from the Pickardville department was the recipient, and received the award plaque from Latimer’s widow Gail.

“The various departments choose a member of their force to be nominated,” Biro said. “There are many firefighters who go above and beyond simply fighting fires. They do community service and are willing to help whether it’s an emergency or not.”

Pickardville fire chief Colin Calkins said Provost was the department’s nomination because he’s brought so much to the force since he started there in 1980.

“He’s not only a firefighter, but a mentor too,” Calkins said. “He’s good with equipment and he has lots of patience when teaching the new guys.”

Provost is also involved in everything in the community, not just the fire department, he said.

It wouldn’t be a lie to say that the Pickardville force is proud that one of its members was named the Glenn Latimer Award winner, he said.

The nomination process is straightforward. The departments forward an essay about their candidate to Biro and the county, and then the essays are judged to determine which nominee best fits the ideals of the award.

In addition to the Glenn Latimer award, three firefighters were granted the Alberta Emergency Service Medal recognizing at least 12 years of continuous service to the firefighting cause.

Those three were Calkins, Daniel Strome from Pickardville and Biro himself.

The award is open to anyone in Alberta who works in emergency services as either a paid or volunteer member, whether on the front line with fire or EMS or as a 911 dispatcher, Biro said.

The only criteria for the award, he said, is that the candidate has worked for at least 12 years consecutively and the proper paperwork has been filled out and submitted to the province.

Calkins said he had no idea he had been nominated for the provincial medal, and plans to keep it in its box until he has a chance to pin it on his dress uniform.

Another component of the evening was handing out service awards for members who had hit five, 10 or 15 years of service in the county.

Members awarded for five years of service were Chris Priestley (Westlock rural), Kyle Bowman and Ken Moon (Pickardville) and Al Stedel and Kody Klein (Jarvie).

Those with 10 years service were Glen Isaacson (Busby) and Drew Beattie (Westlock rural).

Fifteen-year service awards were handed out to Ward Allen (Fawcett) and Ken Mead (Busby).

Biro said all the fire departments in the county are currently looking for new members.

“We never want to say we have enough,” he said. “The more the better.”

With people coming and going as their lives change, he said it’s good to have a constantly refreshing and growing roster of firefighters.

Anyone who is interested in joining their community’s fire department is invited to get in contact with the county office, who will then be able to direct them to the closest department.

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