National Post (National Edition)
Out on the fire lines
‘Almost record-breaking season’ has been pushing crews hard
On the fire line, the two-week stints of 12-hour work days are hot, smoky and arduous, the blackflies insatiable, danger always lurking.
While 26-year-old Natalie Romain loves the job, this year has been a particular grind for her, and the hundreds of other people on the front lines of Alberta’s wildfires.
“I definitely see this season as one of the more physically demanding; just longer days, longer hours,” said Romain. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native is back for her fourth Alberta fire season, and was headed to a Grande Prairie-area blaze this week. “Honestly, you get in a groove and you lose track of days. It’s a whole different world on the fire line. In a good way.”
Firefighters in most of Western Canada are dealing with a hot, dry and difficult summer. As of Wednesday morning, there had been 1,422 fires in Alberta alone this year, scorching 485,839 hectares of land. That’s well above normal; the five-year averages for this time of year are 905 fires and just 254,517 hectares. That has meant longer rotations on the fire line: Firefighting shifts have been extended from 15 days to 18, and down time has been cut.
Reinforcements have also been called in. Firefighters from Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, the U.S., Ontario, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick have all been on the line. There are about 1,500 personnel deployed across Alberta, including about 500 firefighters employed by the province, another 280 contract workers, and then the imported and emergency personnel, too.
“This is almost a record-breaking season for us,” said Doug Smith, an area commander who this week was overseeing operations on three northern fire complexes encompassing 17 blazes. “Crews are on their third and fourth deployment already and we’re only halfway through..
“The first two deployments, everybody has got a lot of juice. But some of these guys are on their third and fourth deployments, back-to-back-to-back, and that’s unusual.”
A tired firefighter can make a mistake; on the fire line, safety is paramount. Firefighters have to pass rigorous fitness tests just to enter the government training program and there is a heavy safety component. Different jobs carry different risks. Some of the most highly trained fire- fighters are on the rappel teams. They drop from helicopters into areas that can’t be reached by vehicles. Much of their work involves clearing space for larger helicopters to land and unload their four- or eight-person Helitack crews and equipment.
Those crews then come in to do the initial firefighting, arriving in choppers, four-by-fours and even school buses. They fight new fires, dig fire guards around perimeters, clean out fuel sources like fallen trees and branches, and douse hot spots. They’re aided by bulldozers that clear the forest floor down to the mineral level.
Out on the line, firefighters establish what’s known as LACES — lookouts, anchor points, communications, escape routes and safety zones — before fighting any fire. They also observe a watch-out protocol for signs of current or impending unsafe conditions.
“In Alberta we’ve got an excellent safety record,” said Smith. “We just don’t put people in that (life-threatening) position. I’m proud of the record we have in Alberta.”
There have, of course, been deaths; there are 19 memorials to fallen wildland firefighters at the firefighting training centre in Hinton. One of them honours Harro van Bockel, a rappel team member who died in 1995. While suspended below a moving helicopter, he and a fellow crew member were dragged into a stand of burning timber. The other man was seriously injured, but survived.
Despite the intense focus on training and safety, the profession will always have its dangers.
“The Canadian safety record when it comes to wildland fire suppression is pretty remarkable,” said retired wildland fire behaviour expert Marty Alexander of Sherwood Park, Alta., noting that each year there are at least 8,000 wildfires in the country.
“I don’t believe we’ll ever get it down to zero fatalities. One, two, three a year. I hate to say it, that’s probably reality.
While the rain and cooler temperatures this week brought respite for those on the front lines, that’s all it is likely to be — a break. The season might not be over until well into October. And until it ends, firefighters will be out there, battling smoke, fire and fatigue.
“The people we attract like the outdoors, and want to make a difference by helping the environment,” said Smith, now in the middle of his 34th fire season. “They’re the same reasons I got into the business. I think we make a difference.”