Conditions of the Wildland Firefighters
Fire crew in Quebec plans for the next day's work
The wildland firefighters have shown themselves to be a precious resource, making outstanding efforts "above and beyond" to contain the wildfires raging across Canada. Just as the health care workers were called "guardian angels" by governments but treated as disposable, governments remain indifferent to the conditions of the firefighters and their invaluable experience and knowledge of what is required in the face of 21st century wildland fires.
Wildland firefighters and their unions, Indigenous nations and other communities most acutely affected by wildfires, and researchers and scientists are all speaking out about what is needed. They are putting forward many proposals and solutions, calling not only for the restoration of all the wildland fire services which have been cut and destroyed by the anti-social offensive waged by governments across the country, but an approach to wildland fire suitable for the 21st century.
Working conditions have always been difficult, but they are now unsustainable. An immediate necessity is to solve the problems of recruitment and retention on the basis of respect for the workers and the enormous value they create, and the dangerous and difficult work they do.
This season began with a severe shortage of wildland firefighters. The "Hotshot Wakeup" podcast reports that upwards of 40 per cent of wildland firefighters in Canada have left because of unsustainable working conditions. This means that Canada has to rely on thousands of firefighters from across the world. Even with the tremendous assistance of the 5,000 plus firefighters who arrived from around the world this year, a severe shortage still exists. And their lives are also put in danger as a result of the lack of human and other resources in Canada.
Firefighters from South
Africa, Costa Rica and Chile (top to bottom) arrive in Canada to fight
the wildfires.
The majority of work in wildland fire services is declared seasonal and temporary. Wages are low, with most starting rates for wildland fire crews ranging from $21 to $24 an hour across the country. Earning enough to survive through the off-season depends on working massive amounts of overtime, and earnings fluctuate wildly from year to year depending on fire activity. The need for training on a professional basis is ignored. In Alberta, firefighters have spoken out against the failure of the provincial government to send out offers of seasonal work as firefighters until less than a month before the start of the season. This resulted in an increase from 25 per cent to 50 per cent turnover, Mike Dempsey from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) reported.
Unlike firefighters in urban areas, there is no early pensionable age or acknowledgment of the impact of sustained exposure to intense smoke. And even in urban areas, firefighting is being increasingly reduced to a volunteer service. Many jobs have been contracted out to private companies, and even those working in the public sector who have pensions cannot survive in retirement on pensions based on seasonal work at low wages. Overtime hours are not counted as pensionable hours.
It is a similar situation in the U.S., where in early June the Deputy Chief of the Forest Service told Congress that if a pay solution was not passed, the forest service would not be surprised to lose 30-50 per cent of their workforce.
The British Columbia General Employees' Union (BCGEU) has called for full-time, year-round wildfire crews. "In order to expand and increase the effectiveness of wildfire fighting, we need a dedicated service with appropriate recruitment and retention that allows wildfire fighting leadership to live and work year round in these communities," Paul Finch, vice-president of BCGEU told Pique Newsmagazine in 2022. The BC government responded by hiring 100 permanent staff, which is clearly not enough.
Together
with the needed increase in wages, full-time crews would help to
recruit and retain workers, and provide time for proper training, with
workers ready to go when the season begins early as is increasingly the
case, workers and their unions say. At present, the training of new
crew members
is minimal, ranging from 40 hours in Ontario to eight days of 10-12 hours
in BC. Losing experienced crews further increases the danger for
firefighters, even as fires become more intense and difficult to
control.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) which represents wildland firefighters is demanding an end to private contractors and full restoration of cuts made by the UCP government. AUPE stated that it has repeatedly urged the government to keep wildfire fighting services staffed and in-house. Instead, the government cut funding for this critical work and contracted some services to private companies. In May the Alberta Public Service Commission made a desperate call for any provincial government employees with experience in firefighting to volunteer, a move which AUPE said showed the government was desperate.
Trina Moyles, who spent six seasons working as a fire lookout in a fire tower in northwestern Alberta explained in the Narwhal podcast "Let's Talk about Wildfires" why establishing permanent, year-round crews is important. Large controlled burns under the right conditions when there is still snow on the ground, and both wind and temperatures are lower, are both an excellent way for firefighters to gain knowledge and experience, and important measures for controlling the size and spread of wildfires.[1]
Firefighters are also pointing out that because the intensity of fires have changed, and because nights are warmer, fires do not subside at night as they once did. As a result, crews are called on to work all night and then continue to work into the next day. This has created the necessity for two or more shifts, not the existing arrangement of sending one crew out to fight a raging fire.
Indigenous-led Fire Guardians
Many wildfire fighters are members of Indigenous nations. Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson, a Métis Fire Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, informed that most Indigenous firefighters are seasonal, even though many have worked as wildland firefighters for as long as 30 or 40 years. Indigenous peoples have long called for an Indigenous-led fire guardians program, which would include cultural practices, Cardinal says.[2]
The Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island have lived with fire from time immemorial, and developed cultural practices such as controlled burns to maintain the balance of the ecosystems. Burns were carried out cyclically depending on the conditions and were based on extensive knowledge held by the firekeepers. Subsequent governments have made these practices illegal, and even now they cannot be carried out without permits which are difficult to obtain. For example, retaining open meadows through controlled burns of dry grass in the spring turns the ground black, heating the soil and producing new grass earlier, thus reducing the amount of dry grass where fire can easily start. The firekeepers explain that this practice created conditions for medicinal and food plants, and for the return of animals such as elk, bison and big-horned sheep, as well as fire-breaks. They explain that when undergrowth and saplings are burned, the remaining trees grow bigger and more resistant to surface fires, while the canopy is more spread out, benefitting wildlife but also making the spread of fire in the canopy less. They also point out that reforestation carried out by the monopolies planting one species only after clearcutting does not restore the balance to the ecosystem which the forests require. It is purely self-serving to suit their demand for raw logs to export.
The Tsilhqot'in territory in the province's Interior saw some of the worst fires in the province's history in 2017. Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot'in National Government has called the failure of federal and provincial governments to recognize Indigenous knowledge a greater threat to the First Nation than the fires themselves.
Alphonse explained that Tsilhqot'in First Nation members' local knowledge of and commitment to their land gave them an advantage when they stayed behind to protect it in 2017. "We managed to save everything, we stopped the fire right at our doorstep and we did so without anyone losing their lives or even getting injured."
Alphonse said that after the 2017 fires that affected Tsilhqot'in lands, the First Nation became the first community to sign a formal wildfire response agreement with the federal and BC governments, following which 400 people in the community were trained in firefighting. Failure to pay attention to the changing nature of 21st century fires is not an option, because of the enormous consequences for human life as well as the ecosystem as a whole, he pointed out.
The need for "Fire Safe" measures to protect the towns, cities and First Nation and Métis communities has been evident especially since the Slave Lake fire of 2011 and the Fort McMurray fire of 2016 where thousands lost their homes and everything they had. It also showed that refusal by governments to take seriously the measures needed to protect communities, especially those with one or even no road out.[3]
Measures to respond to 21st century wildfires are part of the work to overcome the destructive effects of climate change and the reckless practices of the monopolies and oligopolies and the governments which serve them who now exercise decision-making power. Indigenous Peoples and local communities are not only losing their homes, but also their traditional territories which all have a decisive role in fire stewardship.
Many industrial practices that negatively impact wildfire severity and spread must also be eliminated. Besides planting for monoculture, this includes spraying with herbicides to kill species which are of lesser commercial value but less prone to burn, and planting stands that are all the same age.[4]
All those involved in prevention, firefighting, research and education are an extremely precious resource. They are dedicated to the work they do, and they know what must be done now to mitigate the impact of 21st century fires. Those who have shown by their work that they can be trusted to protect our communities and to care for Mother Earth must have decision-making power. They know that the claims they make on society are just. This includes what they need for their own health and safety and well-being, including an end to precarity and adequate wages and working conditions.
This article was published in
Number 46 - August
23, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10464.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca