Whether you get a job as a seasonal firefighter (FireRanger) with the Ministry of Natural Resources, or a firefighter position with one of the private companies under contract to provide us with fire crews, you must first have successfully completed entry level training - the SP100 firefighting course. Although you don't have to be 18 years of age to take the course, you must have attained your 18th birthday before you can be hired by either MNR or a fire crew contractor. A number of private training agencies have been accredited by MNR to provide the SP100 course.
The 40-hour course is intensely focused on safety and will prepare you to assume the role of an entry level forest fire crew member. You will be trained to MNR standards in the maintenance and operation of equipment such as the power pump, and in the proper use of suppression hand tools, communications and camping equipment. You will be taught basic fire behaviour and fire terminology.
Please note: Successful completion of the SP100 firefighter training course does not guarantee employment.
SP100 Recertification
If you take the SP100 Forest Firefighting course in 2013 and pass, your SP100 Forest Firefighting course certification would be valid for the 2013 fire season and the 2014 fire season.
In 2014, for you to maintain your SP100 Forest Firefighting course currency for the 2015 fire season, you would be required to go through a training package, while on the job with either the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) or a Type II Fire Crew Agency. This would be a requirement every year for you to maintain currency for the following year (ie: you would do on-the-job training in 2015 to maintain currency for 2016, on-the-job training in 2016 to maintain currency for 2017, etc.)
Should you take the 2014 fire season off or did not get employed with the MNR or a Type 2 Fire Crew Agency, your currency will lapse for the 2015 fire season. In order to recertify for the 2015 fire season, you will be required to complete a one day SP100 Recertification Training Course from an accredited training agency at a cost. This would certify you for the 2015 and 2016 fire seasons.
SP100 Training Agencies
The following is a list of SP100 Training Agencies for the 2013 fire season.
Specialty Services Agency
Site 124, Box 32, RR #4
Dryden, Ontario
P8N 0A2
Tel. 807-937-5490
mmacquarrie@drytel.net
Outland Reforestation Inc.
627 Squier Street
Thunder Bay, ON
P7B 4A7
Tel. (807) 345-3534 ext. 221
fire@outland.ca
Web Page: http://www.outland.ca/
Wildfire Specialists Inc.
2233 Radar Rd. Suite #5
Hanmer, Ontario
P3P 0B4
Tel. 705-693-0323
wildfire@sympatico.ca
Web Page: http://www.wildfirespecialists.ca/home.htm
SP100 accredited training agencies operate as private business. Inquiries by the public regarding locations and dates of training should be directed to the training agencies.
