As the province prepares for another wildfire season, the British Columbia Wildfire Service, BC Wildfire, is hosting camps in Meritt to train new recruits who will take part in operations.
This year, the camps received more than 2,000 applications, coming from across Canada and even abroad. A total of 250 new recruits will go through training camps over the next five weeks.
Participants will learn the basics of being a forest firefighter, but also the basics of teamwork, an essential aspect of the profession.
They’re doing a little bit of everything this week
explains Kyle Young, the manager of organizational development for the Forest fire Service.
Recruits are learning the tough job of forest firefighting and preparing to face fires this summer.
Photo: Radio-Canada
We also look at issues of leadership and human factors.
We go through human factors and leadership elements to see how (participants) can develop resilience early in their career, so that they have the tools to work well throughout the summer and manage some of the problems they face
explains Mr. Young.
According to him, the motivations of recruits are multiple, but those who sign up share a common desire to play a proactive role.
There are tough times, but the team here is amazing and every night I go to bed proud of myself
says Taylor Parker, a 19-year-old new recruit and resident of Salmon Arm.
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New recruits train to carry equipment that they will be called upon to use during forest fire season.
Photo: SHELLEY JOYCE
For BC Wildifre, As a forest fire season approaches, which promises to be difficult, these new recruits are important.
The seasons are getting longer and more complicated, so the more of us there are, the better.
explains Kyle Young.
A season that promises to be difficult
In 2023, wildfires will burn a record area of more than 28,000 km2 in British Columbia. Thousands of people were evacuated and hundreds of homes were destroyed in the Okanagan and Shuswap regions.
This year, there was no rain or snow, with extreme drought and a snowpack considered historically low. Several fires are already burning in the province, mainly in the interior and northeast of the province. The town of Chetwynd, in the Peace River District, was placed under an evacuation order in late April, but this has since been rescinded.
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With information from Wildinette Paul.
