But Ottawa is saying no to a federal agency and Premier Eby is eying setting up local wildfire volunteer groups
The amateur firefighting equipment used by Scotch Creek resident Mark Libera who defied an evacuation order to battle fires around his property. Credit: Mark LiberaIf this were Australia, which relies on a massive army of volunteer “firies” to respond to brush fires across the country, people like Libera might be trained and contracted as volunteer firefighters.
Premier David Eby said he’s more in favour of an Australia-style volunteer fire service, even as one wildfire expert questioned the ethics of anyone doing such a dangerous job for little to no pay, especially after a season where two people in B.C. died fighting wildfires. “I know the minister said we have resources,” Flannigan said. “That’s not true, we don’t have enough resources. Why are we calling on 15 other countries to help us fight fires? We shouldn’t be using the military.”Article content“People say, it’s a provincial responsibility. It’ll cost too much money. Well, health and safety is a federal concern. And how much money spending on disaster relief this year? Every dollar spent on prevention and mitigation saves you five to 15 down the road.
Following the tensions in Shuswap, Eby said the B.C. Wildfire Service is reaching out to residents who know the local bush, work in forestry and know how to use heavy equipment to “try to take down the temperature a little bit so that they can all work together on the fires in a co-ordinated way and so there aren’t just people in the bush doing their own thing.”Article content
The melted down steel toe work boots worn by Mark Libera after working 36 hours straight to extinguish fires around his neighbourhood in Scotch Creek in the North Shuswap. Credit: Mark LiberaContractor Ross Rathbone, who lives in Magna Bay about 16 kilometres east of Scotch Creek, said he and a team of local residents worked through the weekend using excavators and pickup trucks loaded with water tanks to attack flare-ups around the small town of Celista.
During media briefings this week, Ma and Cliff Chapman, B.C. Wildfire’s director of operations, warned against any behaviour that defied evacuation orders.
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