Mike Lees of Sahtlam, who is 80 years young, has been serving his community, as well as protecting it from fires, for more than half his life.
He has been a volunteer member with the Sahtlam Fire Department for just over 41 years, 19 as chief.
"Volunteering in the community has been a part of my life for nearly 42 years," said Lees. "It gives me a feeling of satisfaction to do that."
Hailing from St. Catharines, Ont. Lees spent years working on oil furnaces, but with gas furnaces making huge strides at that time Lees found himself out of work, desperate to find a new job. It was Lees's father-in-law, who was a machinist by trade, that inspired him to move to the island, relocating his own family to Youbou in 1967 for an opportunity to work at the Youbou Sawmill. Lees and wife became Sahtlam residents in January 1968.
Lees worked at the Youbou Sawmill for 32 years, where he first started out in the steam plant. That soon led him to obtaining his fourth-class engineering ticket, then on to his third and from there he moved on to the role of engineering maintenance at both the steam plant and the sawmill. In 1978 Lees became a member of the millwright crew after passing the required courses and examinations, which took a year. From the Youbou Sawmill, Lees then moved on to the Crofton Pulp Mill at the the age of 58 where he did contract work for a decade. Lees said he was always working different jobs, with different people so it was always interesting.
The move to Youbou was not the first time Lees followed in his father-in-law's footsteps. His wife's father was the first fire chief of the Sahtlam Fire Department, which was first built by volunteers in 1971, after the area saw fatalities due to several house fires.
Lees joked that volunteers begged, stole, and borrowed to raise the money to build Sahtlam's first fire hall, which at that time consisted of the first two bays and the upstairs. The fire hall was established with the Cowichan Valley Regional District in 1972, Lees's father-in-law's final year as chief. A project to build the additional bays got underway in 1982 and was completed in 1986.
Lees first joined the department as a volunteer in 1983, by which time his father-in-law was no longer serving.
But family legacy wasn't the only thing that inspired Lees to join up.
"My house burnt down in 1981 and the community was really good support to us," said Lees. "So once I got our home to the point where it was livable again, I joined the fire department in 1983, so that I could give back to the community that helped us. What has meant a lot to me is the camaraderie, a sense of belonging, and giving back to the community."
During the years when Lees was a more active firefighter, he saw his share of major blazes including several wildfires, and Paldi's history going up in flames when both Paldi School and the Paldi Sikh Temple historic cook-house saw fires of great magnitude. He also witnessed the inferno at Mayo Lumber's larger engineering workshop, which was a timber built structure that Lees noted burned like crazy.
What sticks out most in Lees's mind about these fires wasn't just the sheer size of them, but how local fire departments stepped up to lend a hand.
Lees spent four years as deputy chief before taking on the role of fire chief from 1991 to 2011, and said he was blessed to work with great crew, which was part of the reason he kept getting re-elected every two years. Lees was the secretary treasurer of the firefighters association at that time, and also did the finances for the fire department. Something else that Lees take much pride in are the years of mentorship his has passed on to his fellow volunteers.
"I took on the role of chief as a sense of responsibility, I wanted to make sure that the department was going in the right direction," said Lees. "I get a lot of joy from mentoring others, it gives you a feeling of being needed."
Lees is most proud of the new vehicles the department acquired through taxation under his watch. He said that when the department was first established in 1971, all their trucks were either hand-me-downs, or oil trucks adapted into water tenders. The department bought their first new pumper truck in 1983, the same year Lees came on board. That pumper truck was then replaced under Lees's watch with one that could hold 1,000 gallons of water in 2005. Five years later that was followed by a water tender, their little rescue truck and pumper in 2012, and one more truck was added to the fleet in 2015.
"The pumper truck was financed over 20 years," said Lees. "I'm really proud of this accomplishment, we worked together as team to do this, and brought the standards of the department up. When you go from makeshift to manufactured vehicles it gives you a real sense of achievement."
That is not the only time that Lees has felt a sense of achievement. He received the Governor's General's Award after 20 years of service, and received a second bar to be mounted on his medal just last month at an intimate ceremony with the regular crew held at the hall.
"It was a real honour," said Lees.
His dedication to the community doesn't stop with the fire department. Lees has been commissioner with the Area E Parks and Trails Commission for the last 12 years. Things that Lees is most proud of in this role have been working with the directors and achieving milestones like the purchase of Area E's Wake Lake as well as establishing both Glenora Trails Head Park in 2010, and Currie Park that sits across from the Sahtlam Fire Hall. It was established 10 years ago, and named for the Currie family who settled in the area in the early 1900s.
"Currie Park is just about the most popular park in Cowichan Valley," said Lees. "People come by bus to this park, it has the longest slide in the valley."
Lees recently suffered a stroke but it hasn't slowed him down, and he plans to continue to volunteer as long as his health will allow, and hopes others will follow in his footsteps.
He now leaves the firefighting to the young pups, while he drives the truck and assists in other areas when needed, such as traffic control and bringing crew members water if needed.
"My advice to people would be to get involved in your community and volunteer," said Lees. "The world goes around with volunteers, not with those who are paid."
