Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey was honoured for his work done on behalf of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CACF).
At the association’s annual conference in Montreal last week, Abrey was presented a King Charles III’s Coronation Medal.
“There were 50 of us that received that medal through the CACF for their work that they did on the national level. Either through the national fire service or through their provincial fire services or a combination of both,” Abrey said, adding two other medals were presented to Manitobans including Steinbach fire chief Kelvin Toews and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service deputy-chief Scott Wilkinson.
“We are all involved. I’m past president of the provincial association and Kelvin is our current president. We’ve both held a number of different committee seats on the national level. Scott Wilkinson has spoken at numerous conferences on the national level and he sits on a few different committees, as well.”
The coronation medal commemorates the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III as King of Canada. The medal is administered by the Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall. A total of 30,000 medals will be presented this year to those who have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.
Currently Abrey sits on the CACF’s Cancer Prevention Committee aimed at developing policies and practises to help reduce the risk of firefighters developing cancer throughout their careers. He also sits on the Answer the Call Committee, which gathers information on ways departments can attract new firefighters and retain existing members.
“That’s probably the biggest challenge in the fire service today, bolstering the numbers on departments,” Abrey said.
Abrey also serves on the Executive Chief Fire Officer Committee, which oversees the professional designation program, and the Mental Health Committee, which looks for ways to assist those in all branches of emergency services who are at risk of developing post traumatic stress disorder.
The work is important and, while Abrey does not get involved for medals and pats on the back, it is nice to be recognized.
“It’s great honour. You have 49 others from across the country that are your peers that were there for the award, as well. You don’t do it for the recognition. You do it to try and improve the fire service and make it safer for those that are coming through,” he said.
“In December I hit my 25th year in the fire service and I never thought that when I stepped in that there would be any kind of recognition like this. I never thought that it would be a full-time career for me and I always tell the tour groups that come through the fire station that I’m living every little kid’s dream. I get to drive big red trucks and fight fires.”
