DNVFRS takes great pride in the work we do to care for, connect with, and give back to our community.  

Community Events and Outreach 

You will often see our DNVFRS members at annual community events like Lynn Valley Days and other local celebrations. We are proud to be part of the fabric of our community and welcome the opportunity to meet our neighbours and share fire safety tips.  

When the weather warms up, our crews set up at local parks with our fire engines to spray water for kids to play and have fun. During these Hot Summer Nights events, kids and caregivers can cool down, meet the firefighters, ask questions and get some safety tips. 

In 2021, we started a new event that has become a popular permanent fixture: we stop by local elementary schools with our firetrucks to help kids celebrate the last day of school with a bit of a cool-down from our trucks. 

Our training division hosts firefighter career days for Indigenous communities and high school students. These active and fun days run participants through training scenarios wearing full gear, offering a glimpse into what it is like to be a firefighter. Other popular community programs include fire extinguisher training and firefighter recruitment. 

Promoting the BC FireSmart program - designed to help residents protect their homes and communities from wildfires - is also important to us, and we regularly visit various neighbourhoods within the District, 

Firefighters are also out and about in our community in various other ways, such as assisting seniors with smoke detectors, educating the public and businesses about fire safety, teaching CPR at high schools, and visiting all kindergarten classrooms annually, to name a few.   

Diversity and Inclusion 

Women and visible minorities represent a small percentage of the total DNVFRS staff. We continue to reach out to the community and encourage everyone to consider the benefits of a career in the fire service.  

Recently, we developed a recruitment and outreach program to attract potential future firefighters from our local high school and post-secondary student populations.  

At the DNVFRS, we strive to create an inclusive working environment by actively valuing the differences that diversity brings because everyone is welcome on our team. 

Here are select events we held or attended in 2023: 

• Camp Ignite — An annual camp for young women between 16 and 18 who want to learn firefighting skills and techniques. We sponsored a local high school student and hosted an orientation session with the 2023 participants from West Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver at our Training Centre. 
• JIBC Informational Workshop — This year, we participated in workshops with our Training and Public Outreach Divisions and students currently enrolled in the Justice Institute of BC’s Career Firefighter Technologies program. 
• Career Fairs — North Vancouver School District’s career fairs showcase and outline what a career in the fire service and opportunities with DNVFRS look like. 
• FNESS Youth Bootcamp — DNVFRS was honoured to host a First Nations Emergency Services Society Firefighter youth bootcamp at our training facility. Partnering with FNESS, North Vancouver City Fire, West Vancouver Fire and School District 44, we hosted local First Nations students for a three-day immersive Fire Academy with instructors from our three North Shore departments and FNESS. Students learned about our protective gear, equipment and emergency vehicles while applying that knowledge to firefighting techniques and scenarios. A significant focus of the weekend was spent on firefighting as a career and potential career paths for the students. 

Career Outreach — Work Experience Opportunities 

Throughout the year, we enjoy giving local young people an inside look at the challenges and rewards of a firefighting career. This includes a “behind the scenes” look at a day in the life of DNVFRS through the following programs: 

Bring Our Kids to Work Day — Grade 9 Students spend a day participating in firefighting demonstrations and activities, along with learning about careers in local government service.  

Work experience program — During our New Recruit Onboarding Training Program, we invite students from the local high schools and Capilano University to participate in all activities. The training is over 12 weeks from January to March, and we had 20 students gain experience and information on a career with the District.  

Giving Back 

DNVFRS firefighters contribute hundreds of off-duty volunteer hours annually through the DNV Firefighters Charitable Society IAFF Local 1183. In 2023 to date, we have raised approximately $275,000. 

These funds benefit important causes such as youth mental health, BCPFF Burn Fund, Athletics 4 Kids, Seymour Salmonid Society, Muscular Dystrophy Canada, high school scholarships and bursaries, and other local organizations and initiatives.  

Key 2023 fundraising events include: 

In addition to our larger events and partnerships, donations were made to: 

• BC Cancer Drivers Society 
• BC Children’s Hospital 
• BC Lung Foundation 
• BCPFFA Burn Fund 
• Camp Ignite 2022 
• Canadian Cancer Society 
• Hope Air  
• Lynn Valley Community Association 
• Lynn Valley Days 
• North Shore Mountain Bike Association 
• Parkgate Society 
• S.O.S. Ukraine Foundation 
• The Harvest Project 
• Ukrainian Canadian Social Services Canada 

For more information about the DNV Firefighters Charitable Society, please visit www.dnvfirecharity.ca 

Profile: Jared Reynolds - 2023 Fire Firefighter of the Year  

Before he joined DNVFRS, Jared Reynolds served in the Canadian military. So, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he naturally paid close attention.  

When he saw media reports about Ukraine’s lack of battlefield equipment and supplies, he got to work. With help from the DNVFRS Charitable Society, Reynolds helped organize a medical supply shipment to Ukraine in July 2022. Four months later, he hand-delivered hundreds of pounds of medical supplies to Poland to expedite delivery to Ukraine.  

A month later, he helped organize a clothing drive dubbed “Project Frozen” with the Charitable Society that gathered and delivered two full shipping containers of winter clothing to the war-torn country.  

Reynolds later learned that despite growing stockpiles of medical equipment, many of Ukraine’s firefighters and paramedics lacked adequate training to treat combat casualties.  

"I felt like if someone needs help teaching this, I have the background and the experience," he says.  

When deployed in Afghanistan, Reynolds was part of a tactical combat casualty care team. At the DNVFRS, he teaches firefighters how to treat casualties during active threats or other traumatic events.  

After connecting with a charity called Firefighter Aid Ukraine, run by an Edmonton firefighter assembling a training team, Reynolds entered Ukraine in September 2023.  

While there, Reynolds and other Canadian firefighters trained over 100 people using a program designed for trainees to become trainers so they could teach life-saving skills to others in their departments when they returned.  

Reynolds recently received a video from one of his students teaching the course to another 40 people elsewhere in Ukraine. "So, it’s just multiplying," he says.  

Reynolds says plans are underway to return in 2024 to continue teaching the combat casualty program.