As Canada's wildfires intensify, recruiting firefighters is tougher
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[June 24, 2023]
By Nia Williams
BRITISH COLUMBIA (Reuters) - Canada is wrestling with its worst-ever
start to wildfire season, but recruiting firefighters is becoming
increasingly difficult due to tight labor markets and the tough nature
of the job, provincial officials say.
Limited resources could threaten Canada's ability to douse fires, which
are expected to get bigger and fiercer in future as a result of fossil
fuel-driven climate change, risking more damage to communities and
disrupting the country's oil and gas, mining and lumber industries.
A Reuters survey of all 13 provinces and territories showed Canada
employs around 5,500 wildland firefighters, not including the remote
Yukon territory, which did not respond to requests for information.
That's roughly 2,500 firefighters short of what is needed, said Mike
Flannigan, a professor at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia
and wildfire specialist.
"It's hard work, it's hot work, it's smoky work, and there are real
issues with health impacts longer-term," Flannigan said. "It's getting
harder to recruit and retain people."
This year Ontario extended its application period, boosted marketing
efforts and started covering training costs to secure more recruits.
Applications were down in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, and Alberta
had to do several rounds of recruitment to fill its ranks, officials
said.
Canada's provinces and territories share crews and equipment as required
and call on international partners and the military in times of extreme
need. But this year record-breaking blazes flared up simultaneously in
the east and west, sparking competition for firefighters and aircraft.
"This was the worst-case scenario that everyone dreads - multiple areas
of the country burning at the same time," said Scott Tingley, forest
protection manager for Nova Scotia.
Wildfire crews work 12-14 hour days, 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 basic pay -
ranging from C$30 ($22) an hour in British Columbia to C$.74 an hour in
Manitoba - also deter people.
"We're in competition with a whole bunch of other labour markets. It's
demanding physical work and it's mentally taxing," said Rob Schweitzer,
executive director of BC Wildfire Service.
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Flames reach upwards along the edge of a
wildfire as seen from a Canadian Forces helicopter surveying the
area near Mistissini, Quebec, Canada June 12, 2023. Cpl Marc-Andre
Leclerc/Canadian Forces/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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 hot weather
is expected to return.
FILLING THE GAPS
This year record fires have resulted in Canada deploying around 550
armed forces personnel and more than 1,700 international
firefighters, paid for by the provinces, to beef up its stretched
crews. As more wildfires threaten communities, provincial agencies
are also increasingly leaning on structural firefighters to help
protect homes.
But of the 126,000 structural firefighters in Canada, 90,000 are
volunteers, according to the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs,
who are bearing the strain of protecting their own communities while
also holding down day jobs.
At the height of the fires in May and June some provinces appealed
for extra wildfire recruits. Alberta deployed 157 people who
answered a government call-out, Nova Scotia sent out its first
30-person crew of volunteers last week and Quebec trained up an
extra 300 volunteers and forestry workers who are not usually part
of its wildfire service.
The extra manpower is not cheap. Annual national wildfire protection
costs topped C$1 billion for six of the last 10 years, according to
federal government data and have risen about C$150 million per
decade since 1970.
Most experts expect them to keep climbing.
The federal government is spending C$38 million towards hiring,
training and retaining firefighters and C$256 million over five
years into an equipment fund, and working on a pilot project
training structural firefighters. An Emergency Preparedness ministry
spokesperson said the government recognizes the need for more
investment.
"The men and women that fight wildland fires are doing a tremendous
job but the fact is there's not 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)
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