It's a full-circle moment of sorts.
On Dec. 20, Britannia Beach Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Rob Nicholls slides the Ikea play kitchen out of the back of a department pickup outside The Squamish Chief.
He is dropping it off as a donation to Squamish Community Christmas Care, given the paper's Second Avenue office always serves as a donation drop-off location.
It is full circle in that the playhouse was assembled as part of a communications exercise, and the newspaper is, well, a form of communication.
Earlier in December, for the third year in a row, the Britannia Beach department conducted a radio communications exercise.
"One officer was sequestered away and using a portable radio to communicate with the firefighter team that was on the incident scene and was providing instructions over the radio on how to assemble this product," Nicholls said of the Ikea play kitchen.
Each year, they assemble something different.
"None of the firefighters knew what it was. The officer for that team is blindfolded, so he or she is taking the communications from the incident commander ... They are having to say to the workers, 'OK, take a one-foot by two-foot piece of plywood, and then find two sides that go to it.' Because IKEA has no written instructions, it's all pictures, so the incident commander is communicating from the picture instructions to the team."
The two teams of eight get two hours to finish the project. Then, the blindfolds are taken off, and if not completed yet, the rest of the item is assembled.
According to Nicholls, in addition to being a lesson in teamwork, this exercise is a fun way to learn other important firefighting skills.
"They have to learn proper radio protocols ... and then also, it's a problem-solving exercise for both the firefighters and the incident commander in communicating limited information as succinctly as possible to support the team in assembling it," he said.
"It's a fun, entertaining and educational opportunity for the firefighters to really hone the radio skills and their problem-solving skills."
The 120-year-old Britannia Beach Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief boasts 38 active firefighters and averages about 11 (10.8) firefighters per call out.
To learn more about the department, go to bbvfa.ca.
