Adam Pingushat reached the top of the mountain of his longtime ambition to become a firefighter when he became fire chief in Arviat in November of 2024.
Pingushat, 34, said he has taken fire marshal's training in both Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit.
He said he has, on and off, a total of 15 years experience firefighting.
“When I was younger I was always hanging around or biking around with my friends and often watched firefighters be first responders and I decided to learn myself and I became a fireman at the age of 18,” said Pingushat.
“As time went by, with all my experience and training in firefighting since 2011, I decided to do commander training, which is what I do with our volunteer firefighters.
“I always do my safety first that I learned from taking all the different courses. So, with all my training and experience, I decided when the opportunity came along to become the fire chief for the Arviat Volunteer Fire Department.”
Pingushat said he's been working a lot with the Office of the Fire Marshal and he's always looking for new projects his department can get involved with.
He said he spends a lot of time and effort with fundraising for the Arviat Volunteer Fire Department for the purchase of more specialized tools and other equipment needed as a fire chief.
“There's no equipment right now that the Arviat Volunteer Fire Department is badly in need of.
“We have nothing but good, clean equipment. Every Tuesday at our regular meeting, I communicate and work with my firefighters to let them check all the equipment and we replace anything we need to with the SAO's (senior administrative officer) permission.
“Our bunker gear is all new and ready to go, as well, thanks to our SAO (John Hussey). I have one female firefighter and 14 men and they're all doing very well.
“I think the community knows how hard I work with my deputy chief and my officers to make sure we're able to do a good job. Right now Arviat has a really good fire department.”
