Global Courant
BRITISH COLUMBIA –
Canada is struggling with its worst-ever start to its wildfire season, but recruiting firefighters is becoming increasingly difficult due to tight labor markets and the arduous nature of the work, provincial officials say.
Limited resources could threaten Canada’s ability to put out fires, which are expected to grow larger and more intense in the future due to fossil fuel-driven climate change, risking more damage to communities and disrupting the oil – and the country’s gas, mining and timber industries.
A Reuters survey across all 13 provinces and territories found that Canada employs about 5,500 wildland firefighters, not counting the remote Yukon area, which did not respond to requests for information.
That’s about 2,500 firefighters short of what’s needed, said Mike Flannigan, a professor at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia and a wildfire specialist.
“It’s hard work, it’s hot work, it’s smoky work, and there are real issues with longer-term health consequences,” Flannigan said. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain people.”
This year, Ontario extended the application period, increased marketing efforts, and began covering training costs to recruit more recruits. In British Columbia and Nova Scotia, applications poured out, and Alberta had to go through several rounds of recruitment to fill the ranks, officials said.
Canada’s provinces and territories share crews and equipment as needed and call on international partners and the military in times of extreme need. But this year, record-breaking fires flared up simultaneously in the east and west, sparking competition between firefighters and aircraft.
“This was the worst-case scenario that everyone fears — multiple parts of the country are burning at the same time,” said Scott Tingley, forest protection manager for Nova Scotia.
Wildfire crews work 12-14 hours a day, up to two weeks at a time, in smoke-filled, high-stress environments, often in remote wilderness areas.
The seasonal work, longer fire seasons and uncompetitive base pay — ranging from C$30 an hour in British Columbia to C$18 an hour in Manitoba — also put people off.
“We compete with a lot of other job markets. It’s physically demanding and it’s mentally taxing,” said Rob Schweitzer, executive director of BC Wildfire Service.
A week of cooler weather and rain eased some fires across Canada, but 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres), an area the size of Lithuania, have already burned this year and unusually warm weather is expected to return.
FILL IN THE GAPS
This year, record fires have led Canada to deploy about 550 military forces and more than 1,700 international firefighters, paid by the provinces, to bolster its expanded crews. As more wildfires threaten communities, county agencies are also increasingly relying on structural firefighters to help protect homes.
But of Canada’s 126,000 structural firefighters, 90,000 are volunteers, according to the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, bearing the pressure of protecting their own communities while keeping their jobs.
At the height of the wildfires in May and June, some counties called for additional wildfire recruits. Alberta deployed 157 people to respond to a government call, Nova Scotia sent its first 30-person volunteer squad last week, and Quebec trained an additional 300 volunteers and foresters not normally part of the wildfire service.
The extra manpower is not cheap. According to federal government data, annual national wildfire protection costs have exceeded C$1 billion for six of the past 10 years, and have increased by about C$150 million per decade since 1970.
Most experts expect them to continue climbing.
The federal government is spending C$38 million on hiring, training and retaining firefighters and C$256 million over five years on an equipment fund, and is working on a pilot project to train structural firefighters. A spokesman for the Ministry of Emergency Relief said the government recognizes the need for more investment.
“The men and women fighting wildfires are doing a fantastic job, but the fact is there aren’t enough of them,” said Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.
(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Denny Thomas and Aurora Ellis)
