Randy Bair (right) and Tom Charles worked many search and rescues together and passed away from cancer four months apart. Randy Bair will be honoured at a memorial ceremony in Melfort on July 31. (Submitted photo/Michelle Vandevord)

By Becky Zimmer

Celebrating a legacy

Long serving firefighter and officer to be honoured in Melfort

Jul 26, 2021 | 5:25 PM

Long serving Muskoday Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) and Saskatchewan First Nation Emergency Management (SFNEM) member Randy Bair is being remembered this upcoming weekend in Melfort.

The SFNEM are gathering on July 31 at the Kerry Vickar Centre to honour Randy’s legacy with their organizations.

Bair passed away in January after a short battle with cancer but his legacy lives on, associate director for Saskatchewan First Nation Emergency Management, Michelle Vandevord, told northeastNOW. She saw this passion firsthand, she said, as Randy used his nearly 30 years of experience as a firefighter to go into schools to talk about fire prevention.

“(Randy) spread that around provincially to First Nation communities and you can see the passion that Randy had for that when he was in the classroom. And I was very fortunate that, you know, he brought me up and trained and put that passion and instilled it with me as well.”

Randy Bair (right) attending to the 2015 fires in La Ronge with Randy Irving. (Submitted photo/Michelle Vandevord)

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Bair gained much of his knowledge in Grassland, Alta., a community nearly half the size of Birch Hills, Sask. However, it was a busy fire department as it serviced the Highway 63 corridor from Edmonton to Fort McMurray, Shane Bair, Randy’s son, told northeastNOW.

“Sixty-three had some very spectacular accident, very high speeds…It’s literally one of the most dangerous highways in Canada,” he said.

A lot of that experience he brought home to Muskoday and shared with the department as fire captain following his move back from Alberta, said Vandevord, and then later as safety officer and fire prevention officer with SFNEM. Randy was also a member of the Saskatchewan Volunteer Fire Fighters Association and enjoyed training new firefighters.

“There was lots of training that we did with the association. Bringing up all the rookies through the years, he was instrumental in a lot of our training,” she said. “We also have an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Birch Hills volunteer fire department. And he helped with the fire chief put that together and between that partnership helped even the Birch Hills Fire Departments as well.”

That passion will be missed, says Vandevord, but it also lives on in his sons; Shane, who is taking over the same officer position as Randy at the SFNEM, and Logan and Morgan, who are firefighters with MVFD.

Logan and Morgan Bair answer a mutual aid call with the Birch Hills Fire Department. (Submitted photo/Michelle Vandevord)

Shane will soon be making the move from Lac La Biche, where he has been a firefighter for 21 years including a fire chief, in order to work for the SFNEM. The feeling is bittersweet considering it was his dad’s dream job and now it is his.

“The hardest part about this is I got my dream job because my dad passed away. He had his dream job after a long time searching and finally got it and he’s really passionate about it. You could tell by the people he worked with, he made an impact there, not only on the job but then on their lives.”

For Vandevord, knowing Shane is stepping into the position and seeing how Logan and Morgan are following in their dad’s footsteps as well has helped her grieve the loss of Randy.

Vandevord said they are inviting fire departments to act as honour guard for the July 31 celebration of Randy’s life. Please call Vandevord for more information, (306) 940-8737.

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Becky.Zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @Bex_zim