By Jon Tamlin
On Thursday, November 8, the Philippines suffered the most powerful and deadliest typhoon in history, Typhoon Haiyan.
In response to the devastation left by Haiyan, I am one of 14 firefighters who are volunteering to be members of Global Fire’s upcoming Capacity Building Operation from this Wednesday, February 26 to Tuesday, March 11 in the city of Tacloban.
My 12 years of volunteering with the Rosemont District Fire Department, six years as a full-time firefighter with the City of Toronto and most recently, as an instructor at the Ontario Fire College, have led me to this opportunity. I am looking forward for the chance to share my knowledge in this time of need.
Our team goal for this operation is to help local fire departments to get back on their feet, through training and delivering equipment donated from Canadian fire departments.
One of my roles in Tacloban will be teaching Fire Ground Operations and basic fire-fighting skills. Other team members are focused on teaching first aid/CPR, urban search and rescue, water rescue, auto extrication and firefighter survival.
GlobalFire is a not-for-profit charity with no overhead costs. It is an operational arm of the David McAntony Gibson Foundation (DMGF), which is a registered Canadian charity. DMGF also has GlobalMedic and GlobalWater as operational arms.
GlobalFire was created, and is organized and equipped to: perform technical searches and conduct technical rescues after natural or man-made disaster environments worldwide; collect and donate fire suppression equipment and train local first responders or an organized group of volunteers in fire fighting and first aid in developing nations; and inspect locations and install simple fire-fighting systems in population-dense areas that lack basic fire protection (such as camps that house refugees and internally displaced persons) and train local volunteers to use these systems.
I am currently raising funds for fire departments in the Philippines to purchase and repair equipment and to pay for training. If you would like to donate to our team’s mission, visit www.globalfire.ca and enter “Philippines CBO 2014” in the “Messages/Instructions” box. Or, to donate money for future deployments, click “Donate” on the left side of the home page and follow the prompts.
Pictured on home page: Jon Tamlin.