Appointed fire chief just before the ice storm

Photo Magalie Lapointe
Daniel Dubois was the chief firefighter in Brossard for less than 24 hours when he broke the ice storm.

Magalie Lapointe

Sunday, January 7, 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Sunday, January 7, 2018 01:00

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SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, A fire chief came into post on 5 January 1998 there was not even a white shirt to his waist, when the ice storm broke out. Yet, he had to console him experienced firefighters who were weeping at the magnitude of the task.

Daniel Dubois was only 28 years old when he was appointed chief of operations at the Service de sécurité incendie de Brossard. His appointment was a surprise to many because of his young age. He has had the opportunity quickly to show that it was made to be leader.

To avoid skipping steps, the management had established with Mr. Dubois that the process would be done quietly.

However, he didn’t have a white shirt in her size, had not finished installing his office and did not officially meet with his team when the phone rang in the night of 5 to January 6, 1998.

During the two weeks where the crisis has raged in Brossard, he had to do it out of force several citizens to their place of residence and the fight against fires caused by heating (see brief)

But one of the things that has marked Daniel Dubois during this crisis has been to see colleagues fall in battle, leaders leave their positions and careers to stop suddenly.

The pressure was constant and the fire department could not benefit from the support of their families, who were affected by this disaster.

More capable

“I remember a colleague who was standing in front of the garage door, then it was empty because the trucks were all on the road. He was crying. He was unable to talk. I put the hand on the shoulder and I asked him what he had. The only thing he was able to tell me is that he was no longer capable of “, said Daniel Dubois.

The chief went back to and returned to the barracks to lead his team.

“He never came back. I attended the end of his career “, he added.

Daniel Dubois believes that this crisis has allowed him to become a better leader. What he experienced during the ice storm for the past 20 years.

“In two weeks, I’ve built a credibility that, normally, would have been able to take a year. After two weeks as manager operations, I had the leadership necessary to be able to mobilize a team, ” recalls Mr. Dubois.

Security

The firefighters, who responded consistently to emergency calls, had not even the time to dry their combat uniform.

For 12 hours, they had to bear the burden of their gear wet, in addition to the accumulated fatigue and the citizens who were taking more and more risks to avoid to evacuate their home.

Now aged 47, he is the director of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu for the past year and leads a team of over 100 people.

He fights with a loss to make it out

To the 12th night of work, the chef Daniel Dubois has received a call for a fire in the building.

He went into the basement of the house. The owner was in the process of demolishing his home of stone with a sledgehammer to extinguish the fire.

“I looked him in the eyes and I asked him to drop her mass to the ground. While talking to him, I’m advanced, and I put my hand on its mass. The police intervened, because I was literally beating me with him, ” recalls Daniel Dubois.

After having extinguished the fire, he went to discuss with the man in the autopatrouille.

“I sat in the car and I removed my helmet. He looked at me with his tears and he asked me what had happened. He couldn’t think of anything. It was really particular, ” said Mr Dubois.

Logs in the stove

After ten days of a disaster, the despair of the residents was felt. Daniel Dubois went to extinguish a fire in a residence.

While the head is made of pain and misery up to the front door, hampered by all this ice, the owner of the house comes to meet him all bundled up.

“It is by entering into the house the lady told me that to warm up the house, she took of the logs and she lit the fire in his stove. She did not understand how there was so much smoke. She told me that it was not that usual when she was putting things in the oven “, said Mr. Dubois.

She reserves a place in heaven

During the ice storm of 1998, Daniel Dubois made it a duty to stop in the accommodation centres for flood victims in order to reassure people and answer their questions and their concerns.

While he was sitting on a stairs with his garment of a firefighter and his helmet, an elder came to paste on him.

“An older lady looked at me with his glasses. For her, the end of the world had just happened. She put me hand on the thigh and she told me that we, as firefighters, we were the good world and that since his time would come soon, she would have a good word for us, ” said Daniel Dubois, laughing.

Today, he knows that a place is reserved for him in heaven.