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www.insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 16, 2017 | 12 Pollock retires from Oakville Fire by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff K S M h a s draw n s m ile s on o u r fa c e s , e s p e c ia lly o u r c h ild re n "We chose to come to Canada because we thought it would give our children a better and safer life. It was really hard to leave our extended family, friends and home. I miss my career, our food and our culture. However, I know it will be better in the end. Every day we are working to improve our English. We are doing our best to learn the Canadian business style. We believe that it is just a matter of time until we find jobs that will make it possible for us to provide for our family. Kerr Street Mission has been so instrumental for us. We found a friendly hand ready to help. It is not easy to have to depend on other people. We are so thankful that KSM understands this and makes us feel welcome. We are so grateful for all the opportunities and help KSM has given to our children. I don't know what we would do if we didn't have the help of KSM." Did y o u know ... · 12.4% of O akville child ren live in poverty. That works out to 5,665 child ren from 0 to 18 y e a rs . · $70,073 is the living w age in H alton . The living wage is the amount of money an average family needs to earn to afford all the basic necessities of life. · 51,800 people in Halton are v isib le m ino rities . Many, like the family in the story, are struggling to find work in their field and to provide for their families. · There are more than 6,500 v is its to Kerr Street Mission each month. · There will be more than 25,000 m eals served through the Kerr Street Mission kitchen th is year. We need your support. Please give generously, so that together we can continue to provide help and hope for individuals and families in need in Oakville. To learn more about Kerr Street Mission go to www.kerrstreet.com or call us at our phone below. Kerr Street M ission 485 Kerr Street, Oakville P: 905.845.7485 Charitable Reg. No. 897106845RR0001 After 31 years of service, a thirdgeneration Oakville firefighter is calling it a career. Dave Pollock will finish his last shift at the Bronte fire station Nov. 23, bringing an end to a journey that saw him tackle such massive fires as the Oakville Ice Centre blaze of 1988. "I'm definitely going to miss it. I grew up in the fire service as a kid. I'm going to miss it for sure," said Pollock. "I am looking forward to not doing 24-hour shifts anymore though." Oakville Fire Chief Brian Durdin said Pollock is one of eight remarkable firefighters, retiring from the Oakville Fire Department this year. He noted the veteran' s personality and experience would be greatly missed. "We wish him all the best in his retirement," said Durdin. "We hope it is a happy and very long retirement so he can enjoy his family and this new chapter in his life." Pollock joined the Oakville Fire Department in 1987 at the age of 22 having decided against a potential career as an industrial hygienist. Being a firefighter, he said, was in his blood. As a child, Pollock listened to stories about his late grandfather Jack, who had been one of the founding members of the Bronte fire station in 1925 and had put fires out via bucket brigade. Pollock' s father, Ken, also became a firefighter out of the Bronte fire station and quickly passed on a love of the profession to his children. "When the pager would go off sometimes we would say, ` Dad can we come with you?' and we would sit in the car and watch while he fought the fire," said Pollock. "If we were really lucky, after the fire was out he would let us hold onto the fire hose. This was when I was like five or six." Pollock said his career has been a memorable one filled with battling blazes in homes and apartments and extricating people from crumpled vehicles following traffic accidents. Not all these emergency calls had happy endings. One incident that stuck in ' 11 III " Oakville father and son firefighters Ken Pollock (retired), left, and Dave Pollock, who himself is now retiring after a 31-year career. | Dave Pollock photos Pollock' s mind involved a car crash in Burlington where the vehicle caught fire, killing the four teens inside. "We were the crew on that night so they brought the car to Oakville and we had to unfortunately extricate them out of the car," he said. "Now they have programs in place where they have counsellors or debriefing sessions where they come in and take you out of service so you can talk about your feelings and what you did. Back then, however, you really just relied on the guys you worked with. They were like a second family. If you had an issue you could talk with them about it. A lot of the guys I have worked with over the years have really helped me get through that type of stuff." While Pollock acknowledges it may sound cliche, he says the feeling of satisfaction he gets from helping people in trouble was one of the big reasons he stayed with the fire department. It should be pointed out not every rescue involved fire. During the Thanksgiving weekend Pollock was part of the fire crew that helped a young Toronto couple fix their motorcycle after they accidently filled it with diesel fuel. The couple had just barely been able to push the vehicle to the Bronte fire station. Dave Pollock "We just felt so bad for them. They just looked so helpless that I said, `Come on in. We' ll fix you up,'" said Pollock. "The poor guy, he thought his bike was finished." Another positive aspect of the job, he says, is that every day is different. Every call, he says, presents a different scenario and requires the attending firefighters to think differently about how they are going to proceed. "It' s a thinking job. You do a lot of thinking on your feet. That' s what I liked about it." He says the technology of firefighting has changed over the years, not only in terms of the fire engines driven or the equipment used, but the approach to extinguish a fire. Pollock says it is not simply about dumping water on a blaze. Consideration, he says, is needed concerning the composition of a building, colour of flames, where the fire is, and if a rescue or a search is required. All this factors into how firefighters direct their efforts. All these new techniques and technology make for engaging conversations between Pollock and his father who would sometimes go to Pollock' s fires to watch his son in action. "I' ll tell him about a fire I went to and he' ll say, ` Well why did you do it like that?' It' s almost like a dad going after his kid after a hockey game," laughed Pollock. While Pollock laments that this will be the first time since 1925 that there hasn' t been a Pollock at the Bronte fire station he says it is the right time for him to g°. He said he is looking forward to spending time with his family. "They' ve sacrificed a ton over the years. I' ve missed Christmases and birthdays and milestones because of work. Now I'll have a little time to give back to them." To new firefighters, Pollock has the following advice: " Just come in with an open mind, ask lots of questions and just be a sponge because there is a ton to learn from young guys on the job and older guys on the job. Everybody has something to bring to the table."