Chelsey Mirasty from Muskoday First Nation, Saskatchewan, has been named top graduate at Lakeland College‘s firefighter training program in Vermilion, Alberta. Mirasty received the Centennial Emergency Training Achieving Award at the June 2026 graduation ceremony in recognition of her academic achievement, commitment to the firefighting profession, and contributions to the success of her fellow classmates.
Her mother, Captain Michelle Vandevord, presented her certificates at the ceremony. Vandevord has spent 27 years in firefighting and is the director of Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management. She is also the longest-serving member of her firehall and became the first female president of the Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada, now known as the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council, in 2020.
Mirasty completed the 12-week firefighter training program through Lakeland College’s blended learning format, which allowed her to finish theory courses online while continuing to work in mine rescue. “It was a great course. It worked out really well for my schedule,” she said. “Everything was more manageable, especially as I was still working.”
Before enrolling, Mirasty had already gained skills in first aid, confined space management, rope rescue, and fire suppression through her work in mine rescue and as a volunteer firefighter. She credited the hands-on training at Lakeland, including industrial props and driving firetrucks, as key to her learning. “Learning in the textbook is one thing,” she said. “But when you do the hands-on part, you really are getting the best quality.”
Lakeland College’s Emergency Training Centre began in 1959 as the Alberta Fire Training School and is now Canada’s largest first responder training institution. The centre offers the 12-week firefighter training program with blended learning options to help students like Mirasty balance work and study.
