About Glenn Petersen

CANADIAN ARMED FORCES BASE, BORDEN ONTARIO, CRASH FIREFIGHTING GRADUATION CLASS 1970

Can you find Glenn?

GLENN FOUND WHAT HE WAS GOOD AT AND TO THIS DAY ENJOYS WHAT HE DOES.

Glenn was born in Kamloops, BC and at the age of 12 he and his family moved to beautiful Victoria, BC. It wasn’t long after that his drive and passion for working hard would come to light. It was in 1967, when Glenn was only 15, he started working as a dishwasher at the Oak Bay Marina Restaurant. Not even a year later, his ambitious nature was proven when he was promoted to assistant to the Chef.

Glenn’s need to do more in life is what spear headed his next change in life. He was just 17 years old when he had hopes of joining the Navy to become a crash firefighter.  To this day he is still putting out fires so to speak, always there for an emergency call for those who need his expertise.
Glenn was eager to join the navy, but at first he was not considered to be qualified to join, he was not heavy enough for his height to survive the rigorous training required in boot camp. He was 5 pounds below the required weight for his height, but that did not stop him. Glenn hung lead weights from the inside of his pockets in a pair of baggy pants to tip the scales at 6 pounds over the requirement.

In the Navy, he received training in two areas. When Glenn was stationed on a land at CFB Shearwater / CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia he was an airport Crash Firefighter and when at sea with HMCS Bonaventure / HMCS Provider he was an Air Dale / Air Sea Rescue (Sea King Helicopters). After putting in 5 years, Glenn decided to switch things up a bit and started working for Water Survey of Canada. He would fly throughout northern BC’s wilderness with Okanagan Helicopters as an assistant hydrometric technician surveying river flows. You might say he has always been around water.

Upon Glenn’s need to further expand his education, he went on to the University of Victoria where he pursued a career as a mechanical engineer and soon realized it was not for him, he missed the hands on approach to the mechanical industry.

After entering into a plumbing pre-apprenticeship program with Camosun College in 1975 there was no looking back, he continues to help and aid local Victoria residents, always there for an emergency and to offer his expertise.

Glenn would highly recommend a career for those young men and women looking for an exciting diversified career with unique challenges in the mechanical industry be it in plumbing, pipefitting, fire sprinkler fitting or as a gas fitter.

To learn a little bit more about Glenn Petersen, view an article written by Byrion Barker in 1990