'Courage, valour and ultimately sacrifice': Langford Fire Rescue honours 30-year member Lance Caven
'Courage, valour and ultimately sacrifice': Langford Fire Rescue honours 30-year member Lance Caven
Langford, B.C. -
Langford Fire Rescue is in mourning. Flags outside the hall are at half-mast as the department honours Assistant Chief Lance Caven, who died Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer.
“I just can’t put into words what it’s like right now and how much he’s going to be missed,” said Chief Chris Aubrey.
Caven was only 50 years old.
“He was a member of this organization for over 30 years,” said Aubrey. “He spent his entire career serving and protecting the residents of this community.”
Caven is being remembered as a deeply committed firefighter who began his career as a volunteer after graduating from Belmont High School.
“(He served) with incredible courage, valour and ultimately sacrifice,” said Aubrey.
Firefighters say the job he loved so much may have contributed to his death.
“We certainly here have no doubt that his cancer was related to the firefighting,” said Aubrey.
Occupational cancers are the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths for firefighters in North America.
Every two years, firefighters from around the province gather at the Last Alarm Memorial at the B.C. legislature to honour those who have lost their lives as a result of the job.
This year, 48 names were read allowed.
“We’re talking probably out of the 48, in excess of 40 died from cancer,” said Gord Ditchburn, president of the British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters Association.
In two years, Lance Caven’s name will be one of those read aloud.
It’s not just smoke and flames that put firefighters at risk. Studies have linked synthetic chemicals in turn-out gear to certain types of cancers.
Firefighter associations are lobbying the federal government and pushing manufactures to find an alternative product to the chemicals that are currently being used in the gear.
“No one embodied the values of the fire service more than Lance,” said Aubrey.
The chief will remember Caven for his laughter, kindness, enthusiasm and as a mentor to him and all those who had the pleasure of working with Caven over the years.
“We’re all better for knowing him and his passing has left a huge void in this organization that will never be filled,” said Aubrey.
Caven leaves behind a wife, a daughter and a community that he spent three decades protecting.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
The father of Tori Stafford, an Ontario girl who was murdered in 2009, says the latest decision to transfer convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a minimum security prison is a 'slap in the face' to all murder victims' families.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he was indicted for mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, a remarkable development that makes him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw.
A little white pill has given Syrian President Bashar Assad powerful leverage with his Arab neighbours, who have been willing to bring him out of pariah status in hopes he will stop the flow of highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria.
Smoke and flames continue to engulf much of Canada, with Alberta imposing new evacuation orders, Manitoba bracing for heavy, lightning-generating thunderstorms and high wildfire risks and poor air quality from coast to coast.
'Kids are being massacred in their schools, literally … their heads are being decapitated because of the power of an assault bullet, (which) is unlike anything, no other weapon,' says gun violence prevention activist Samuel Schwartz, who is among the organizers of a sit-in demanding change on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Tumbler Ridge, a community with a population of 2,400 in northeastern B.C., has been ordered to evacuate Thursday due to the danger posed by an encroaching wildfire.
A day after the NDP government presented its 30-point plan to address the crisis at Surrey Memorial Hospital, the official Opposition is pledging to build a tower, while acknowledging their role in the situation.
Court records show defrocked Oblate priest Eric Dejaeger is facing six charges of indecent assault and two charges of sexual assault for crimes he allegedly committed in Nunavut between 1978 and 1982.
Video has surfaced showing a Mississauga, Ont. transit bus plowing into stopped traffic in a crash that left one person dead and at least eight injured on Thursday morning.
Quebec's precarious wildfire situation is expected to remain stable over the next 48 hours but residents displaced by the raging forest fires likely won't be able to return home until early next week, Premier Francois Legault said Thursday.
An Ontario man charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the death of Claudia Iacono, the daughter-in-law of the late Montreal Mafia associate Moreno Gallo, was arrested the day after the killing in Ontario on unrelated drug charges, public records show.
Lyme disease in Quebec was back on the rise in 2021, following a brief slowdown in 2020. Of the 650 cases of Lyme disease acquired in Quebec, Estrie was again the most affected region. With 452 cases, it accounts for nearly 70 per cent of all infections in the province.
The Halifax Regional Municipality says it will announce Thursday when more residents can return to their homes in communities impacted by the Tantallon wildfires.
New Brunswick students under the age of 16 who identify as trans and non-binary won't be able to officially change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent.
Two years after two statues were knocked down and damaged at the Manitoba Legislature, one is now back up and Indigenous leaders are upset by the decision.
Scoring the opening goal of game three of the Stanley Cup finals wasn’t the only celebration Florida Panthers defenceman Brandon Montour was a part of this week.
University of Guelph (U of G) researchers have been looking at ways to breed dairy cows that burp out less methane, a harmful greenhouse gas emission contributing to climate change.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
A driver accused of being impaired and having open liquor in the vehicle faces several charges after allegedly speeding along Highway 400 in Oro-Medonte.
A man who killed his ex-wife’s cousin will spend life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, a judge decided on Thursday at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
Thousands of Canadians have had to leave their homes in several provinces over the last few weeks due to forest fires. Luckily, there are steps you can take to protect your property, both prior to an evacuation and during.
