Photo: Contributed

Charles Wilkins, of the Logan Lake Fire Dept., has recently been awarded a medal and certificate recognizing his 20 years of ‘loyal and exemplary service to public safety in Canada’.

“It’s been a long haul, and I’ve done a lot of things in the fire department,” said Wilkins.

“I started out in mine rescue originally. I figured since I was getting free training at the mine, I’d join the fire department here and be a firefighter for Logan Lake. I originally moved from Victoria to get a job here and I loved the town as soon as I moved into it, so I figured I wanted to do something for the town. And it started then.”

After a few years serving as a firefighter, he was asked if he would like to become a training officer, to which he agreed. He has now been training firefighters in the area for 15 years. This also gave him the opportunity to interact with more people and to visit other fire departments, something he has enjoyed.

“I love training firefighters, and the nice thing is that, at the time, all the chiefs I had sent me all over the place to go training in different places,” said Wilkins.

“Meeting other fire departments was awesome, especially on the Island because that’s where I originally came from.”

Wilkins has enjoyed his many years with the fire department so much that he was able to convince his family to take part as well, with both his wife and son joining the fire department and serving for a time, as well as his daughter, who was a junior firefighter.

When asked how long he felt he would be a member of the Logan Lake Fire Department, Wilkins explained that his retirement would likely follow that of his mine job in sixteen months, albeit not immediately.

“I’ll stick around for a little while after that, but I have other things that I want to do,” said Wilkins, who is both a wood carver, furniture maker and member of a medieval group, in which he participates in sword fighting and functions as a knight’s Squire.

“I carve all sorts of Norse carvings and make Norse furniture,” said Wilkins.

“I enjoy it, and I enjoy hitting people with a stick,” he joked.

Wilkins and his wife used to host the Logan Lake Halloween party every year. In a fundraising effort one year, they decided to bring a medieval group down from Kamloops. Wilkins immediately expressed an interest in what the group was doing and was invited to come and check out the next practice.

“And sure enough I’ve been there ever since, I’ve been doing that for just as long as I’ve been a firefighter,” said Wilkins.

“I became a squire to a knight probably 4 or 5 years ago. He took me under his wing and taught me how to sword fight… and we became great friends.”

Just as it was in the fire department, it soon became a family affair, with Wilkins’ son battling with his father at tournaments.

After two decades, Wilkins’ passion for serving his community has not diminished, although that’s not to say that there haven’t been difficult moments being a first responder.

“Logan Lake does not only auto accidents out on the highway, we do first responder in town, we do ice rescue, we’re also a first response for forest fires in our area,” said Wilkins.

“And our area is quite large. I’ve seen a lot of heartache, out on the highway. We do a lot of first responder calls in our town, but I’d rather it be me than somebody else because I really care about the people here.”

For anyone who may be considering joining the Fire Dept. whether in Logan Lake or elsewhere, Wilkins encourages them to take the leap into becoming a first responder.

“It’s good training,” said Wilkins.

“There’s testing involved but for everything we do in life we have to show that we’ve gained knowledge. Especially if you’re dealing with people and you’re try to save their lives. We’ve (the Wilkins family) had a great life, and the fire department’s always been there. I serve with great people.”