Zug-trained firefighter and his new life in Calgary

Thanks to training with the Voluntary Fire Brigade in Zug (FFZ), Tobias Breuer has made the grade as a senior firefighter in the Canadian city of Calgary, to where he moved 12 years ago.

Just as the Winter Olympics are currently being held in Pyeongchang in South Korea, it was in Calgary where they were held in 1988, the temperatures dropping to as low as C-45°. While it may not have been that cold of late, Breuer, now 37, frequently has to carry out his duties at temperatures as low as C-30° and cope with deep snow, too.
 
Not that this is a totally alien environment for Breuer, as he was actually born in Wiesen, near Davos, in the canton of Graubünden, where he dreamed of becoming a professional ice hockey player, not so much for EVZ-rival HC Davos, but for a Canadian team, having read so much about them in magazines. As things happened, he qualified as a joiner in his home canton before moving to Zug. It was here that the brother of one of his colleagues was a member of the FFZ and he subsequently became a fireman, too.

However, at the back of his mind was still this dream of going to Canada so he went initially on a language course, after which he had the opportunity to spend five weeks touring the western parts of the country, an experience he will never forget, not least because of all that open space and so many free-roaming animals. It was actually in 2002, as a 21-year-old, that he decided he would leave Zug to start a new life in Canada, while also realising, that with his height (1.68 m), he would never make it as a professional Canadian ice-hockey team player.

As to immigration, the Canadian policies in this regard were very strict. However, as he was already a qualified joiner and there was building boom in the country at the time, Breuer was admitted, with the help of a lawyer.

Once there, he applied to join the fire service, though there was no shortage of Canadian applicants for this job. He took an initial written test, but failed, apparently on account of language problems, whereupon he engaged the services of a private tutor for a few months. Fortunately, he passed the second time, mentioning, too, how he had had to take a lie-detector test. “I got through that easily,” he said. “After all, growing up in Wiesen, no-one has any secrets in a small village like that.”
 
As for the practical training to be a fireman, this took four years. While, of course, he had learned so much in Zug, he still had to start again from scratch in Calgary. After one year he became a fire-engine driver and then given the opportunity to specialise, in his case in rescuing people from high buildings. “It is not uncommon for a window cleaner on a skyscraper to get into difficulty or a pane might need replacing,” he explained. He has since achieved the rank of senior firefighter and become a member of the honorary guard and as such he represents his employer at funerals, too, which is considered a great honour.
 
He mentioned how, in a place like Calgary, he is more of a rescuer than a fireman, adding how more plastic is used on buildings there, hence there are more fires and more victims. He mentioned too, that, about four times a day, teams are sent out to rescue drug addicts who have taken an overdose of fentanyl, a current trend. Then he has also had to help put out forest fires.
 
In the meantime, Breuer has moved into a small house with his wife, a teacher. Not that he has given up on joinery at all; he does this in his spare time. Indeed, with his Swiss qualification in this, his work is much sought after. “The level of education here is higher than in the USA, but you cannot compare it with that of Switzerland,” he said.

And what about ice hockey, the main reason he left anyway? Well, he does play in a firemen’s team but does not actually watch a lot of games there. “It is all very commercialised over here. I much prefer the atmosphere at stadia in Switzerland,” he admitted.