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YLW’S FIRE CHIEF NEIL BOOTH
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eet YLW’s Fire Chief, Neil Booth. Born in the Ellison area of Kelowna,
Booth was raised on the family orchard. In the ‘80s the Ellison Volunteer Fire Department was created. Booth joined as soon as he was able in 1982. “My dad was active in it, so was my sister, so it seemed like the thing to do,” he said from his office at YLW.
He continued to farm and volunteer at the fire department and in 1990 he was hired on at YLW as an airport firefighter. In his spare time he continued to volunteer with the Ellison Fire Department until December of 2007. In April 2009 Booth was appointed as Airport Fire Chief at YLW.
“It doesn’t have to be a big thing; it’s the helping I love”
Booth, by his own admission, loves everything there is about being a firefighter. “It’s the service end of it that I enjoy. It doesn’t have to be a big thing; it’s the helping I love. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t fight fires as much, but I still get great satisfaction from watching new people develop and grow as firefighters.”
Being a firefighter is much different at an airport than at a municipal hall, as Booth explains.
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“Almost all of our work here is precautionary. We are more into prevention than putting fires out. We spend most of our active time on standby, a term we use when an aircraft has an emergency problem. The tower calls us and we go into standby positions. We get on the radio on three frequencies and have the RCMP, ambulance, and mutual fire departments ready to go. We park in predetermined positions and observe to make sure the aircraft lands safely and follow it to parking. Then we check for any foreign object damage (FOD) and we also check for things that may have fallen off the airplane or fallen onto runways or taxiways.”
As far as movie-worthy crashes, there haven’t been any at YLW. “We’ve had incidents where an aircraft has gone off the runway or a wheel breaks off and you have to land in the dirt, but never anything major,” says Booth.
YLW recently acquired a new fire truck with some great features. “This new truck is much larger and has a better safety
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for operators,” Booth explains. “It’s computerized and has electronic foam
proportioning, cameras, forward looking infrared systems and completely different lighting technology. This truck has HID (high-intensity discharge) and LED (light-emitting diode) lighting as well as a built in generator and a light mast. The HID lights cut through smoke and fog and the LEDs use much less power and last so much longer. The biggest thrill was watching everyone when we trained on it. Everyone that drove it was proud of it. It handles so well.”
YLW has 20 Aircraft Rescue Firefighters, including Booth and an Assistant Chief. They receive continuous aviation fire fighting and first medical responder training throughout their careers.
Being the Fire Chief at YLW means Booth is involved with everything to do with safety at the airport; from researching, recommending and testing the new runway sweepers to doing his part as on-call airport manager. From the emergency coordination centre to unified command, YLW Fire Chief Booth is usually there.
Thank you Chief Booth for over 30 years of exemplary service to your community.
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