The head instructor of Parkland College's Firefighting Training Program has been named one of Canada's top firefighters by a national magazine.
Retired Captain Mike Masserey, lead fire service instructor at Parkland College's Melville campus, appears in this month's edition of Reader's Digest alongside 14 other featured firefighters. He was also one of two members of the group to be interviewed on Canada AM this Monday morning.
The 28-year veteran of Winnipeg's Fire Paramedic Services was nominated for the honor by his uncle based on his long career and extensive volunteer work in public education and safety. In particular, Masserey is recognized for his involvement in Manitoba's SAFE Baby (Smoke Alarms For Every Baby) service.
The program has tragic origins for Masserey. In 1994, his brother-in-law and 10-year-old nephew were both killed in a house fire. Shortly after, Winnipeg suffered a separate high-profile fire in which five children died.
"Our chief wanted to do something for new families," recalls Masserey.
The project was assigned to Masserey for development, and together the firefighters researched initiatives running in other communities in which free smoke alarms were given to every newborn baby.
"In the public education business, you know that there's only two times in an adult's life that they're willing to make a change: that would be after a tragedy or after the birth of a new child," says Masserey. "Talking to them at that point is a very happy time, and talking to them after a tragedy is a very difficult time, so I'd much rather be on the proactive side than the reactive side."
SAFE Baby was the two-year pilot project that resulted. Its success earned it an international Rolf H Jenson Partners in Public Education award in 1998 along with attention from around the world. That year, Masserey was asked to turn SAFE Baby into a provincial program, and the firefighter took the opportunity to expand it into a major public education campaign.
Inspired by Winnipeg and Manitoba's efforts, other places have taken the initiative in developing their own smoke alarms for babies programs. Masserey doesn't how many of them followed through, but he has sent information and advice to anyone who has requested it.
"I sent information to New Zealand, to Great Britain, to several places around the states, to more places than I can remember."
Another of Masserey's initiatives as a firefighter, Winnipeg's Breakfast With Santa program, earned him a Mayor's Volunteer Award. More recently, he has been nominated for the 2010 Mary Beth Dolan Award, a provincial honor for outstanding service by a Manitoba firefighter.
Since his retirement from active duty in 2005, Masserey has been spending most of his time sharing his knowledge with the public and with future firefighters as a fire safety educator. Parkland College is the latest institution to benefit from his experience.
Masserey says he has always been happy with the career he chose.
"And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing right now. I'm out here teaching the new generation, telling them how much I've enjoyed my career and how much the career has to offer."
