Clearwater Volunteer Fire Department taking part in backcountry work/via District of Clearwater
The District of Clearwater is taking the unique step in creating its own municipal run, frontline wildfire team.
The town council has signed off on its creation, authorizing a series of fast-moving steps that are going to take place over the course of the next few weeks to turn it from a concept into a local wildfire Initial Attack team.
“In 2022, the BCWS [BC Wildfire Service] announced it would no longer station IA [Initial Attack] teams in Clearwater due to resource constraints and recruitment challenges, instead relocating them to Kamloops,” stated a staff report compiled for the District Council on the creation of the local team.
“The Minister responsible for the Ministry of Forests has confirmed that the IA crews will not be returning to Clearwater.”
Map of smaller communities most vulnerable to wildfires based on analysis by Vancouver-based AISIX/via AISIX.ca
Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell has told Radio NL it was that decision by the Wildfire Service — along with a report put out by an AI firm highlighting the potential risk that Clearwater faces from wildfires — that was enough to spur them into action.
“I pretty much met with every Forests Minister and pretty much all the Fire Center bosses since that time, and it’s basically about risk management for them,” said Blackwell. “They basically think that the North Thompson doesn’t burn as hard or as often as these other areas, so they’re putting the resources where they’re most likely to be used.”
“That doesn’t really do anything for us.”
Municipal team built through collaboration
Even though municipal and provincial jurisdiction is clearly defined in legislation and on maps, fires don’t respect said boundaries.
Proposed coverage area of the Clearwater Fire Department Initial Attack (FDIA) Team/via District of Clearwater
To try to douse any tensions over jurisdiction, the District of Clearwater and the BC Wildfire Service have entered into an agreement through a 2024 pact signed between the Fire Chiefs’ Association of BC and the BC Wildfire Service to give Clearwater’s team a chance to get on top of a nearby fire almost immediately, before it becomes a bigger problem.
“Right now, it’s going to be a minimum of an hour-and-a-half, and more likely three to four hours, to send a crew out from the Kamloops base, which is at the [Kamloops] Airport,” argued Blackwell.
Under the agreement Clearwater has entered into with the Wildfire Service, the local Initial Attack team will be able to activate if a fire is spotted within a 10-kilometer radius of the municipal boundaries.
Permission will first have to be given by the Wildfire Service.
If authorized, the Clearwater team will be able to go in, with the local costs of fighting that fire being picked up by the Province.
The local team will be on its own to choose what it feels is best to keep Clearwater safe.
Outside the 10-kilometer zone, the Clearwater team will also be able to respond — with permission — but will be under the control of the BC Wildfire Service.
Clearwater will also be able to send a bill to the Province for that work as well.
Forest fires which start inside the municipal boundaries — which in Clearwater’s case is a real possibility — will see the Clearwater Volunteer Fire Department and its Initial Attack team be in charge of coordinating and leading the effort, with assistance provided by the Wildfire Service, if necessary, but on the District’s dime.
Initial costs to be absorbed locally
While District officials have deemed the Initial Attack team necessary, it doesn’t come cheap.
At the same meeting where the District Council was authorizing steps toward a municipal tax increase for this year at 7.9%, local officials were also authorizing taking the initial start-up costs out of the Wells Gray Community Forest Reserve.
Those costs are just under $300,000.
Example of a Bush Truck the District of Clearwater intends to purchase for its Initial Attack crew/via District of Clearwater
This includes the purchase of a 1-ton bush truck and a water tender for $160,000, on top of nearly $84,000 for crew equipment and nearly $24,000 for training and operational expenses for 2025 — combined with a 10% contingency to cover off any other incidentals.
Despite the front-end costs, its being suggested through the District’s analysis that the Initial Attack team’s forward-looking costs can be kept off the annual tax bills.
“This initiative is designed to be financially self-sufficient, avoiding any reliance on municipal taxation for ongoing costs,” stated the briefing note for the District Council.
“A robust funding strategy, centered on a reserve policy, will ensure the long-term viability of the FDIA Crew.”
Crew to be fast-tracked into ready mode
While there may be some folks already in mind for the positions, an official recruitment drive is underway to try to secure up to six individuals to be part of the Initial Attack team.
Given the time frames the District is hoping to achieve, this endeavor appears likely to be an all-hands-on-deck, all-encompassing effort by any and all who might pick up a pay cheque from Clearwater.
Wildland firefighters using hand tools, one of 17 procurement items on the list for Clearwater to purchase for Initial Attack team/via District of Clearwater
Formally approved by the District Council on Tuesday, March 18th, the goal laid out in the staff briefing note is to have the Initial Attack team ready by sometime in May — or around 11 weeks.
This will include a recruitment campaign done locally through “targeted” local advertising, social media and community engagement, with expectations that instructional materials, a venue and the trainers themselves can be ready to go by the start of the training period.
That’s slated for the 2nd half of April.
Before that can happen, the would-be volunteers will have to go through a review process to see if they’re physically up to the challenge, and whether they’re fully committed.
That’s supposed to be wrapped up by mid-April.
From there, the successful applicants will go through a one-week crash course on their certification requirements to become wildland fire fighters, which will then be followed by a week of physical training.
As all this is taking place, behind the scenes, the District will be trying to run down a grocery-list of 17 different items, including various pieces of specialized hardware, on top of separate fire fighting gear for six individuals — Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) — which has to be sourced and sized by the time the crew is ready to begin its training.
That list also includes the purchase of a one-ton crew cab as the bush truck, on top of a spare chassis for the water tender which the District already has within its ranks.
Should each of these dominos fall as planned, expectations are officials in Clearwater will be able to roll out its new Initial Attack team to the public sometime in May in an organized event, which would coincide the crew being ready to go at a moment’s notice should a fire in the vicinity break out.
Members of the Clearwater Volunteer Fire Department in training/via District of Clearwater
