Death on the Fireline: Wildfire Crews on the Front Lines Face Harsh Conditions, Death in Fighting B.C. Wildfires
Three fire crew died while fighting wildfires across Canada in July and BC Wildfire Services budget remains shockingly low
Wildfires have been raging all over Canada since late spring, and British Columbia has been suffering its share, many of which are ongoing to this day. Wildfire crews trained to specifically fight wildfires have been on the front lines of this job for months.
Wildfire fighting operations can turn deadly when the crew is understaffed, lacks sufficient equipment, and lacks sufficient pay and time off to rest and recover.
A 19-year-old firefighter, Devyn Gale, died on July 13 after being caught under a fallen tree near Revelstoke, as reported by the Revelstoke Review.
Gale was a third-year firefighter with the B.C. Wildfire Service and was working with a team clearing brush in a remote area where a small wildfire broke out near Revelstoke. The crew lost contact with her, and when she was finally found, they adminstered first aid, then was later airlifted to Queen Victoria Hospital in Revelstoke, where she later died from the injuries.
Since the death of Gale, two other firefighters in Canada died in recent weeks.
Adam Yeadon, 25, died on July 15 while fighting a wildfire near Fort Liard, in the Northwest Territories, a village just north of the British Columbia provincial boundary line.
On July 16, a helicopter crashed in northwestern Alberta, killing the 41-year old pilot Ryan Gould from Whitecourt, Alberta, who was helping with fighting the wildfire blazes.
The three crew members who died were among about 2,000 wildfire fighters who are currently fighting more than 360 fires across British Columbia alone.
This year is expected to be B.C.’s worst fire season on record, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS).
Working conditions for firefighters are deadly and the government and BCWS knowingly place wildland firefighters in these conditions, which they fully admit. “With the conditions we are in it makes it all that much more dangerous for our staff who are working 14-, 16-, 20-hour days trying to do everything to move these fires away from critical impacts,” BCWS spokesperson Cliff Chapman said last week.
Knowingly forcing wildland firefighters to work such unreasonably long hours with no sleep and no back-up crews is intentionally creating a deadly situation for firefighters of all ages and backgrounds. Apparently BCWS and the Canadian and provincial governments are willing to accept the death of their own fire crew rather than giving them the time and resources they need.
According to CBC News, the total budget for the 2023 British Columbia wildfire season is $204 million, a shockingly low amount that doesn’t even begin to cover the amount that would be needed for adequate staffing and training. As of June 13, BCWS spent over half its budget, $105.3 million, less than half way through the wildfire season.
A Reuters survey of all 13 provinces and territories revealed that Canada employs around 5,500 wildland firefighters for the entire country, not including the remote Yukon territory, which did not respond to requests for information from Reuters.
That’s approximately 2,500 firefighters short of what is 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 health impacts longer-term,” Flannigan said. “It's getting harder to recruit and retain people.”
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. A budget with a socially-minded, worker protection goal would allow funding for double the size of the crews at more than double the current pay, in order to relieve workers who have been on the frontlines for many hours, to avoid over-work, fatigue, injury and death.
The seasonal work, longer fire seasons and uncompetitive basic pay - ranging from C$30 an hour in British Columbia to C$18 an hour in Manitoba - also keep people from applying to work these jobs.
More than 430 wildfires have been reported in B.C. this year as of the end of June. The overwhelming majority have been in the Prince George Fire Centre, which roughly comprises the northeast quarter of B.C., where over 7,550 square kilometres of land have burned so far — more than half of the historic season high.
July and August are typically peak fire season in the province, reporting the most destruction and the highest costs.
Exacerbated by the effects of capitalist-caused climate change, fires are continuing to burn out of control across Canada, from Quebec to British Columbia and in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
The Donnie Creek fire in northeastern British Columbia has expanded to be the largest single fire in the province’s recorded history, and has burned more than 5,344 square kilometers of boreal spruce forest. The fire has burned through an area more than twice the size of the Vancouver metro area and is continuing to burn out of control.
A 25-year-old firefighter from Ontario was killed in northeastern British Columbia, on July 28, the second fatality in the province this month and the fourth in Canada during this year’s record fire season.
The man was working Friday just before 11 a.m. in a remote area about 150 kilometres north of Fort St. John when his heavy-duty ATV rolled over a steep drop on a gravel road. He was transported by helicopter to Fort St. John but died en route. His identity has not been released, but Provincial officials have confirmed the man was a contracted firefighter working for the wildfire service through a private B.C. company and died while fighting the almost 6,000-square-kilometre Donnie Creek blaze.
More than 1,900 international firefighters have deployed to assist in fighting the blazes, including 100 from Mexico, France, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Chile and the United States. This is in addition to the 350 members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) who deployed for six weeks to assist with the battle against wildfires in Alberta.
But since climate change is a global problem, there can be no national solution. Consumption taxes like the carbon tax disproportionately impact the working class while big business continues polluting actions unabated. The only solution to Canada’s wildfire crisis and to fight climate change is through an international socialist program led by the working class.