Posted by Ralph Montesanto on Sep 24, 2019
Peter Dendekker introduced Greg Freije who is a volunteer firefighter with the City of Hamilton. Greg is also a long time employee of Peter’s window company, Aerloc Industries, starting there when he was 15 years old.
 
Greg Freije is a volunteer firefighter with the Lynden Fire Department, Station 26. There are between 20 – 25 volunteers working out of that station. The Hamilton Fire Department consists of 280 volunteers and 440 full time firefighters and is one of the largest composite departments in Ontario making over 35 000 calls annually that include 65% medical in nature, 3% actual structure fires and 32% alarm conditions like Hazmat, CO, MVC or rescue.
 
Preventable education is a big part of the department’s work with 20 000 home visits, many to replace smoke detectors or batteries. As well, the department has an educational van that travels to various fairs to promote fire safety, especially with children and youth.
 
Greg took a number of questions that dealt with the mental health of firefighters who see some very horrendous things while fighting fires or giving assistance.
 
Derek Dix thanked Greg for his presentation and for his service to the community