Dawson Creek Fire Fighters donate $10.2k to support new Dawson Creek Hospital project

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — The Dawson Creek Fire Fighters Association is stepping up to support a project in the new Dawson Creek Hospital, inspired by a tragic accident involving one of its own. 

On June 10th, the Dawson Creek Fire Fighters Association donated $10,210 dollars to the Dawson Creek and District Hospital Foundation, according to the foundation’s executive director, Allie Macam.  

Macam said the donation will support furnishing the inpatient lounge at the new hospital.

The Dawson Creek Fire Fighters Association revealed they had been working behind the scenes on a “special project” in a Facebook post on June 4th.

The association said the project was inspired by Captain Brooks Gower, a Dawson Creek firefighter who was hit by a vehicle on Highway 97 in October 2025, and his family’s health journey.

“Due to [Gower’s] accident in October and visiting him in Vancouver General Hospital, we saw the need for and importance of a room like this,” Gary Kerbrat, president of the Dawson Creek Firefighters Charitable Foundation, said in a news release.

According to Kerbrat, the goal of the family room is “to allow for families to spend quality time together to help with the mental healing during their time of crisis.” 

In a conversation with Energeticcity.ca, Kerbrat explained what led to the donation to the project in collaboration with the hospital foundation.

“We had six or seven guys go down and visit [Gower] in the hospital while he was there, and with that….we were able to see the struggles as an outside view on what Trina [Gower’s wife] was dealing with.”

Kerbrat explained how, when firefighters were at Vancouver General Hospital visiting Gower, it seemed like “Trina was almost trapped in the hospital room with Brooks, and unfortunately, they’re just not built for family members to sit in comfort.”

According to Kerbrat, the firefighters’ association reached out to the hospital foundation to see if they could help solve the problem.

Macam said the contribution is a reflection of the Dawson Creek Firefighters Charitable Society’s commitment in supporting families in some of “some of the most difficult and stressful moments of their lives.”

The contribution will also help develop a “comforting and welcoming space” for patients and their families, she said. 

“It is a powerful reflection of the firefighters’ dedication to caring for and supporting our community both inside and outside of emergency response,” Macam continued.

To support the project, the firefighters’ association is holding a raffle for a 2026 Polaris Sportsman 570 ATV. 

Kerbrat explained why people should support the project through the raffle.

“This is a project that I feel not only supports Dawson Creek…it really supports everybody, whether you are from Fort St. John….Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge, Hudsons Hope, Moberley Lake,” he said. 

“Everybody around this area, even if you’re in Alberta, they come to Dawson, they use our facilities here…all we’re trying to do is make things a little better for people,” Kerbrat continued.  

Tickets for the raffle can be purchased online. The raffle deadline is September 1st at 9:15 a.m., with the draw shortly after at 10 a.m.