UNITY – With 120 combined years of service, four firemen from Unity were presented with the Saskatchewan Protective Services medal. Glenn Klein, Dwaine Kopp, Allan Sopyc and Jeremy Thompson were this year’s recipients.
The four men have worked alongside each other for the past 25 years at the Unity Fire Department, all with the same goal of helping the community.
Klein, who celebrated 32 years of service, started as a hose man before moving up to captain and eventually rural deputy fire chief. He said when he joined the department, there was a waiting list for members to join.
“I was young when I joined, and my family understood why I signed up. You get a good feeling when helping someone in need,” said Klein.
Kopp, who is now a retired fire chief, was with the UFD for 28 years. Before moving to Unity, Kopp had some experience in the fire department and mine rescues from Alberta.
“When I started here, you had to be recommended by a current firefighter. I was asked by Larry Wagner to join shortly after moving to town,” said Kopp.
Kopp was only a firefighter for a short time before moving up in the ranks to driver, then captain for eight years, deputy chief for nine and a half years and ending his career as Chief for three and a half years.
Of the four men honoured, Sopyc has been with the department the longest at 35 years. For the first 10 years, Sopyc was a firefighter before he moved into the deputy Chief position for four years. For the last 21 years, Sopyc has actively been the Rural Fire Chief.
“It is very rewarding to be a member of the UFD and help your community,” said Spoyc.
Thompson, who has served 25 years with the UFD, joined to give back to the community after friends in the department asked him to join. He held positions as firefighter, driver, captain and is currently the Town Deputy Fire Chief.
The ceremony was held in Saskatoon on Sept. 10, recognizing those who have worked or volunteered in the various protective services fields for more than 25 years. Thompson was the only recipient from the UFD that was able to attend the ceremony.
“It was great to be a part of it, I felt appreciated and proud to have hit a milestone of 25 years,” said Thompson.
Alongside his wife, Vivian, Thompson was proud to share the day with others that share many of the same interests.
While all the volunteers have seen many changes within the department over the years, the biggest change for them all has been the training.
“We are now training on electrical vehicle fires, which poses a huge challenge for our department with all the new regulations in regard to how a department operates,” said Sopyc.
While attending the meetings and practices can help with gaining knowledge to do their job effectively, there are some items the department would like to see at the station. Sopyc would like to see a wild land fire truck be purchased for the many brush and pasture fires the department attend. For Thompson, he would like to see extra funding come in for additional tools, training, safety gear and equipment.
The UFD is always looking for new volunteers and urges anyone who may be interested to contact one of the members.
“We meet twice a month, the first Tuesday of every month is a meeting and the third Tuesday is practice,” said Sopyc.
The UFD will be hosting their annual Fire Prevention Week Open House on Oct. 8 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
