‘It was a very busy couple months for the Gibbons Fire Department, they ended the year of 2022 with a lot of accomplishments and training under their belt.  

In September of 2022, the Gibbons Fire Department decided to purchase an AED to donate to the Gibbons Community School. AEDs are such an instrumental piece of equipment when life saving measures are needed in patients in cardiac arrest. The Gibbons Community School staff have their First Aid and AED training certifications, but after the AED was donated, they invited some members of the Gibbons Fire Department to provide them with an AED refresher.  

In October of 2022, the Gibbons Fire Department were fortunate enough to spend two very busy, yet educational days doing a Vehicle Extrication course with Randy Schmitz. Randy is a Captain and Extrication Instructor with the Calgary Fire Department, he is also a TERC Judge, a Chairman with the  Alberta Vehicle Extrication Association, a Magazine Columnist for several Fire Fighting magazines, the Creator of the Vehicle Extrication gloves “Schmitz Mittz,” and he runs Extrication courses across Canada and the U.S.A. Randy is well known in the firefighting community and to learn from him requires booking well in advance. The Gibbons Fire Department members able to learn valuable knowledge and skills from Randy Schmitz, that will aid in future calls requiring vehicle extrication. If it wasn’t for the grant received from Nutrien and the donation of vehicles from AM/PM Towing, the Gibbons Fire Department would not have been able to learn these valuable skills and knowledge.  

In December of 2022, the Gibbons Fire Department, along with the Town of Gibbons staff hosted their annual Christmas Party. Except this year they congratulated their fire chief for his 25 years of service to the community in a very special way. In honour of his service and dedication, they surprised Chief Eric Lowe with the announcement that the Gibbons Fire Hall would be renamed the Eric D. Lowe Fire Hall. Chief Lowe was presented with a plaque to later be placed on the front of the Fire Hall, a signed photo of all his department members, and a diorama of the fire hall.  

It was a very busy and productive way for the Gibbons Fire Department to end the year of 2022, with valuable knowledge and skills and a new name for their Fire Hall.”