1 week Ago By David Parker, Calgary Herald
Dropping down a 250-foot rope into the edge of a roaring forest fire is not for the faint of heart. In fact, with the prospect of a 12- to 15-hour shift, you have to be a little crazy. During the few breaks, you couldn’t have a beer and wouldn’t feel like smoking a cigarette, but Jamie Parker says that cup of coffee sure tasted good.
Parker decided to join the Alberta Wildfire Rappel (RAP) program after completing his kinesiology degree at the University of Calgary, thinking it would provide excitement and some money with nowhere to spend it. He says it was certainly exciting. When a fire was reported, the RAP crew would be transported to the area, and if there was not a close enough landing area, the crew was lowered from the hovering helicopter.
While some members started aggressively attacking the fire to keep it from spreading, others would try to clear a space large enough for the helicopter to land to provide them with more equipment. It is tough and thirsty work. Parker says 21 days on each shift of the seasonal work meant burnout of the crew members was at times difficult to overcome.
When he became a seven-man crew sub-leader, he tried to cheer up his team, who realized they were missing parties, weddings and other social occasions. He decided to offer them a better coffee than they were forced to drink, and from a website began to bring in unroasted green beans and roast them in a frying pan before offering good coffee as a morale booster. After four seasons, he realized that firefighting was a young man’s game — there were also women in some crews — so he looked for a job that he could enjoy but also allow him to still appreciate the outdoors.
By then Parker had become somewhat of an expert on coffee blends, so he decided that coffee would be his calling. Along with fellow firefighter Michael Wenzlawe, he founded the Canadian Heritage Roasting Company (CRHC) in 2015. Launched on the partners’ savings, they selected the right beans to be imported and then had to wait three months for delivery of a roaster.
Fortunately, Wenzlawe’s mother decided on an extended RV trip, so her home was where they started roasting and the beans were bagged — with handwritten company name and information. Parker says they were fortunate to have good business mentors and benefited greatly from Venturepark Labs, a non-profit founded by Arlene Dickinson supporting early-stage entrepreneurs in food and wellness categories. With firefighters’ courage and determination, along with now third partner Ali Sullivan-Lapp, they have built up a craft coffee roasting company that not only has a well-liked product distributed across the country, but have also been able to promote their love of outdoor pursuits and be a force in conservation.
.
