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While studying Mechanical Engineering after high school, Paul joined the local Fire Department as a Volunteer Civil Defence Firefighter. He served at this Fire Department, just South of Johannesburg in South Africa for eight years, during which time the area was under constant threat of terrorist attacks.

After immigrating to Canada Paul once again a volunteered as a firefighter. He attended completed his NFPA certification at the Fire School in Waverly Nova Scotia. He was subsequently promoted to Captain and received annual awards for being a Top Ten Responder. After transferring to Ottawa Paul joined a Volunteer Fire Station which is also a Water Rescue Unit, where he became their Medical Instructor. After a couple of years he started organizing Multiple Casualty Scenarios that eventually included units from Ottawa Paramedics and Ottawa Police. In 2012 Paul was awarded the Station 92 Fire Fighter of the Year Award and in 2013, received the District 9 Larry O’ Reilly award.

Paul has been teaching The EMR portion of the Pre Service Firefighter Education & Training program at Algonquin College since 2015. He also assists with training the new recruits The First Responder Level in the Rural Division of Ottawa Fire. In 2019 he became a Red Cross EMR Instructor Trainer, and is also International Trauma Life Support (Advanced) certified as well as a certified Swift Water Rescue Tech, Ice Rescue Tech and Swift Water Boat Rescue Tech.

Throughout his career as a volunteer and rural Firefighter, Paul has been trained by many firefighters, senior firefighters, officers and fire chiefs and looks forward to passing this knowledge on to new aspiring student Firefighters.

Jeffrey McIntyre is a full-time Firefighter with the City of Cornwall where he has been working since 2006. He has also been a Volunteer Firefighter with the Township of North Stormont for 20 years. Jeff graduated from the Pre-Service Firefighter Education and Training program in 2004 at Algonquin College and has been instructing at the college since 2018. Jeff has certifications in NFPA 1001 Firefighter 1 and 2, NFPA 1041 Instructor 1 and 2, NFPA Fire Officer 1 and 2, NFPA 1521 Safety Officer, NFPA 472 Haz/Mat Technician, Red Cross First Responder Instructor, and IMS 100.

Karen Barsoski-Murdoch has been an Instructor with Algonquin College in the Pre-Service Firefighter Education and Training program since 2006. A full-time Firefighter with the Department of National Defence as an acting Deputy Platoon Chief and a Volunteer Captain and Fire Prevention Officer with the McNab Breaside Fire Department, Karen brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our program.

Karen specializes in Auto Extrication and Heavy Rescue, along with Firefighter survival and self rescue. She is also NFPA certified as an Airport Firefighter, Wildland Firefighter and EMR Trainer Instructor.

Along with her professional accomplishments, she is very involved in her community and volunteers on a number of Executive Committees and was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2013 for Dedication to her trade and commitment to her community.

Jonathan McLaren has been an instructor in the Pre-Service Firefighter Program since 2015. Jonathan has almost 20 years of firefighting experience including structural, wild-lands and aircraft suppression. He has a wide array of firefighting knowledge concerning fire suppression in both urban and rural environments, fire prevention, fire education and hazardous materials safety management. Jonathan is highly trained in first response and emergency scene management.

Jonathan is a graduate of the Pre-Service Firefighting Program at Humber College. Presently Jonathan is employed with the City of Ottawa Fire Service as a Firefighter and a Hazardous Material Technician. Jonathan has also served his community of Whitewater Region as a firefighter and has held various leadership positions throughout the fire service including Trainer Facilitator, Station Captain, Deputy Chief and now serves as Fire Chief of the Department.

Jonathan has several fire related certifications including: Fire Officer 1, 2 and 3; Incident Safety Officer; Fire Instructor 1 and 2; and Hazardous Materials Technician.

Réjean Bérubé is a full-time Firefighter with the City of Gatineau Fire Department where he has worked since 2003. He also serves as a part-time Firefighter/Instructor with the Pontiac, Quebec Fire Department. He is a graduate of structural firefighting at the IPIQ Fire College in Quebec and Fire Sciences Program at Cégep Montmorency, located in Laval. He has certifications as a Firefighter 1 and 2, Fire Officer and Fire Instructor, and is fluently bilingual (English and French)

Réjean has been teaching at Algonquin College since 2014 and is very passionate about instilling a sense of pride and professionalism in his students.

Ken started as a Volunteer Firefighter in Osgoode Township in April 1988. He has been employed as a career Firefighter since October 1988 first serving with the Air Force for 3 years, and then with the City of Ottawa, where he is currently a Captain and Acting District Chief. He has Firefighter 1 and 2, Instructor 1 and 2, Fire Officer 1 and 2, Incident Safety Officer, Hazardous Materials Technician, Extrication Technician and Pump Operator certifications. He also has extensive experience in the volunteer fire service in all ranks from Volunteer Firefighter through to Fire Chief in McNab/Braeside Township .

Ken taught his first classes at Algonquin College in 1997, becoming a regular professor in 2001, and has been the Program Coordinator since 2016.