Jim Smith comes from a firefighting legacy, following his father’s footsteps into a career as a first responder. Now, in his new role as a wildland urban interface officer (WUI) with the Government of Alberta, he’s helping to shape the future of wildland fire response. He’s drawing on a wealth of experience as a student, teacher, training officer and mentor to help him.

Before embarking on his career as a firefighter, Smith was a heavy duty emergency vehicle mechanic with the Canadian Armed Forces Electrical Mechanical Engineers. He also assisted with the military’s wildfire response.

But he’d always felt called to life as a firefighter. As a volunteer firefighter with the Ardmore Fire Department, Smith enrolled at Lakeland College (then known as the Alberta Fire Training School) in 1994. He became a fulltime instructor at the school in 1998 and was part of the fire school when it became a part of Lakeland College in 2004. Smith has taught classes on wildland firefighting, dangerous goods, fire investigation and more and is still a casual instructor at Lakeland.

“Lakeland really gave me a great foundation to work from,” Smith says. “It’s helped me understand more of the fire service and prepared me to do those jobs successfully.”

Outside of Lakeland, Smith advanced his career serving as fire prevention officer and then assistant fire chief in Rocky View County. He was the deputy fire chief in Okotoks, fire chief in Foothills County, and most recently, fire chief in Hinton, Alta., during the Jasper wildfire. Smith was also chief of operations during the floods in southern Alberta in 2013.

As Smith advanced his career with these positions, he retained a teaching element in each. It’s part of the job that Smith thrived in, which he credits to his time both as a student and an instructor at Lakeland.

“It helped me understand the roles and responsibilities of those that worked with me and around me in the fire service,” Smith explains. “It gave me a good understanding of the firefighting curriculum and prepared me by helping me build relationships with the people I was working with.”

Smith has also found himself in mentorship positions, working alongside students deployed to assist with provincial emergencies, like the wildfire in Jasper, and working with practicum students from Lakeland’s emergency services technology program.

“It’s a great thing to have those students interact with fire departments on these emergencies, to get a little bit of a taste of real life,” Smith says. “It helps them gain a better understanding of the kind of life they’re getting themselves into.”

In his newest role as a WUI officer, Smith will have an even greater influence on future generations of firefighters. Through the WUI program, the provincial government partners with local authorities to help fight wildfires threatening urban areas. He’s assigned to look after the teams in the southern region, including Cypress County, MD of Willow Creek, Crowsnest Pass and everywhere in between.

Helping develop the urban firefighting response to wildfires combines everything Smith loves most about being a first responder.

“I enjoy teaching, I enjoy boots on the ground firefighting, I enjoy building the standard operating procedures, guidelines and criteria,” he says. “I think it all stems back to what I learned at Lakeland.”

It’s why he stays connected by returning to Lakeland annually to teach.

“It’s awesome to see the school progressing forward, to go back and teach and connect with the new faces, the new curriculum, and the new things they’re doing,” he says. “It’s like the Beach Boys' song, 'Be True To Your School.' I’m excited to see the growth at Lakeland.”