Member Profile on BY TONY MACDONALD, TORONTO FIRE CAPTAIN (RETIRED)
P
atrick Howlett graduated from Malvern Collegiate in 1983. It was not a surprise that he was awarded the Senior Athlete of the year, since he was involved in so many sports for his school. He also played the trumpet for the Senior Marching and Dance Band. They played many important gigs, such as the Grey Cup Half-Time Show, Grey Cup Parade, Santa Claus Parade, and a College Bowl Half-Time Show.
He graduated from Centennial College, with a Recreation Leadership Certificate. Throughout his high school and college years, he worked for Parks and Recreation at Adam Beck Community Centre and Balmy Beach Community School. He was then hired full-time after college. Patrick started with the Toronto Fire Department on February 6th, 1989. He was trained at Yorkville and then, as was the practice back then, he was moved around from station to station. He worked on A343, A312, then worked at Regent Park on the Aerial, Pumper and the Rescue. After getting picked up as an Acting Captain, he worked on A135, A322, R325, A324, then P334. When promoted to Captain in 2014, he started on A322, then went to Haz332, HR332, & P334. In 2019, as an Acting District Chief he worked on P212, and is currently on P332 as the Captain and also ADC, and APC. That’s a lot of different trucks! We mention this for the younger firefighters, who now see most firefighters stay at one station for many years. Back in the day, most fire departments moved their staff around constantly. At a glance, you can see that Patrick has spent time on Aerials, Pumpers, Rescues, Haz-Mat, High Rise, and Chief Cars. It is possible that a District Chief with the experience of working on that many trucks, might have a greater knowledge of the capabilities of each truck than a District Chief who only worked on one or two types of truck. It looks like the only type of truck that Patrick hasn’t worked on is a Squad. In 2005, Patrick saw a request for volunteers for Camp BUCKO on the Association Website. Camp BUCKO is the Burn Camp for Kids in Ontario. He was interested, and subsequently met with Camp Director Nancy Sinclair. Patrick says, “She was a burn survivor, and the most spirited and incredible lady you could imagine.” He was welcomed into the BUCKO family, and has been with them ever since. He started out as a Cabin Counsellor for seven years. He was on the Board Of Directors for ten years, and has served as the President for the last six years.
28
Vo l u m e 1 5 | I s s u e 2 | F I R E WAT CH 28
