Podcast superstars
South Okanagan firefighters going strong after 104 episodes
Two computer guys, a paramedic and a sheriff from the South Okanagan sat down around a table to talk, and two years later have a hit podcast geared to volunteer firefighting that now attracts thousands of listeners from around the world on a weekly basis.
It’s an origin story that also reflects the can-do, communityminded spirit that defines most volunteer firefighters.
Aptly titled “Down To Fight Fire: The Volunteer Firefighter Podcast,” the show relies on a core group of four — three from Oliver and one from Osoyoos — who record with an off-the-shelf microphone using free computer software.
Their most recent episode features the crew talking about their involvement with the Christie Mountain wildfire, to which they were called just hours after it started on Aug. 18.
They cover the initial call-out right through the fateful hours they spent that night in the Heritage Hills neighbourhood, where one home was lost in the fire, which grew to 2,100 hectares before being contained a week later.
Other episodes — there are now 104 of them, each about an hour long, and all of them free — feature training techniques, news and discussion from the firefighting world, reviews of responses to actual fires and guests from the tight-knit community.
“The feedback is it’s like sitting around the table and talking with your firefighting buddies and family,” said Carl Byrne, who looks after technical production of the show.
Byrne, who works as an information technology consultant and volunteers with the Oliver Fire Department, had no experience in podcasting when the group decided to try it two years ago.
They bought a computer, then found some unused space in the Oliver fire hall where they could record, although the podcast is not officially tied to the department.
“We just set up kind of a closet in a back room,” explained Byrne. “We threw sofas and things in there, padded the walls.”
Scott Schaffrick, the real-life sheriff of the group, said they’re all fans of popular podcasters like Joe Rogan and Jocko Willink, but were disappointed in the quality of shows devoted to volunteer firefighting.
“They were super-dry. They were either really technical, like they were reading out of a manual, or irrelevant for volunteers,” said Schaffrick.
With volunteers accounting for 83% of Canada’s 150,000 local firefighters, according a 2016 report from the National Fire Protection Association, the guys — the core group of which also contains IT manager Ash Regner and paramedic Todd Kunz — recognized a large potential audience for the podcast.
So with lots of laughter as the show’s soundtrack, the crew hit record while they talked about the things they usually talked about at the fire hall.
They kept on talking, and the show recently eclipsed the 100,000listen mark, with episodes downloaded as far away as Israel. The guys have even managed to connect with one of their fans in Australia.
“We get a 3,000-hectare fire and we’re losing our minds. He was on one last year that was half-a-million hectares,” said Schaffrick.
That kind of audience interaction is what the group — which sometimes expands to include Kevin Vetsch and Rob Graham — was after when it started podcasting two years ago.
“Were trying to continue to build a community and family. Our listeners are our fire family. It’s an extension of our fire hall,” said Byrne, who noted the show has been ranked as high as third on podcasting charts in the volunteer firefighting genre.
The key, he continued, has been consistently putting out new episodes, plus keeping it positive.
“If you make something fun and enjoyable, people will listen,” said Byrne.
The podcast is easy to find for most major platforms, or go through the group’s Facebook page.