Tuesday, June 29, 2021
COVID-19 restricted training opportunities for many fire departments around the province.
But Sean Coubrough, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District's (CSRD) Fire Services Coordinator, wasn't about to let a global pandemic interfere with the development of the CSRD's firefighters.
For his efforts, Coubrough has been named the BC Fire Training Officers Association's 2021 Trainer of the Year.
While the award is usually presented at the organization's annual convention, a COVID-19-safe ceremony was organized, without Coubrough's knowledge, at the CSRD office.
"While this may be a surprise announcement, it isn't surprising at all that Sean has received this prestigious honour," says Charles Hamilton, Chief Administrative Officer of the CSRD. "We extend our congratulations to him on this well-deserved recognition of his efforts."
The Trainer of the Year Award is in recognition of outstanding achievement in fire service training, including developing and applying new ideas, creatively using resources and having the highest quality of work.
During the pandemic, Coubrough converted the CSRD's in-person training program into online sessions through Zoom, often hosting more than 100 firefighters at a session. These were then converted into video training modules accessible to firefighters at anytime through a YouTube channel.
Coubrough also made his program available to other fire departments throughout the province. Many have picked it up and are now using it to train their own members. He was also instrumental in training 70 recruit-level members from the CSRD's 13 fire departments to the BC exterior firefighting standard, or above, since the beginning of 2020.
Coubrough has served as the CSRD's Fire Services Coordinator since 2015.
CSRD Fire Services Coordinator Sean Coubrough receives the BC Fire Training Officers Association's 2021 Trainer of the Year Award from Brian Ulle, First Vice President of the BC Fire Training Officers Association, at left, and Jack Blair, from the Office of the Fire Commissioner, at right. Coubrough is surprised by the news he has received the Trainer of the Year award for 2021.
View the June 29 2021 CSRD Fire Services Coordinator Honoured with Provincial Award (PDF).