Threat of forest fires | Volunteer firefighters are rare in the country

(Halifax) As Canada faces what experts fear will be another devastating wildfire season, fire chiefs say they are concerned about the dwindling number of volunteers available to fight the growing threat.

Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, which represents 3,200 fire departments across the country, released his group’s data showing the number of volunteer firefighters is declining as call volume decreases. The urgency is increasing.

Between 2016 and 2023, Canada lost more than 30,000 firefighters, most of them volunteers, according to McMullen. A thousand additional volunteer firefighters left between 2022 and 2023, bringing their number to 125,000, including around 88,500 volunteers.

The memory of the fires of 2023 has left its mark on the commitment of the volunteers. “Last year, we asked volunteer firefighters to respond for weeks and months, leaving behind their responsibilities, their jobs, their parental or marital obligations. All of that gets put aside while these people tend to our fires. At the end of last season, some people just said, “I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.” “, testified Mr. McMullen.

This season is not getting off to a good start, with 70 fires already recorded across Canada, notably due to persistent drought and above-average temperatures. “All indications are that the 2024 wildfire season will be as fierce as last year’s, and we need to prepare better for it than we did for the summer of 2023,” McMullen said in a statement. recent interview.

“We can expect the forest fire season to start earlier, end later and potentially be more explosive,” Federal Civil Protection Minister Harjit Sajjan worried at a conference on Wednesday. Press.

For Michael Lockett, a volunteer firefighter in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, last year’s historic season increased awareness of fire safety and the importance of reporting smoke sightings, but did not not trained many new recruits.

“People want to help. They would love to go out and spray water, but once they realize the commitment, training and meetings required (to become a volunteer firefighter), they leave. »

Hilliard Ewing, volunteer fire captain with the Middleton, N.S., fire department, expects the extensive, unpaid training required will make it difficult for many people who work full time to join a department volunteer.

“It’s important, and you have to be trained to that high level, but to get there and be willing to put your life on the line, the time commitment is just enormous,” he recalls.

There is no consistent regional or municipal model for paying volunteer firefighters, who can only be awarded a federal tax credit, pay-per-call, or honoraria.

The federal government tried to address the need for more personnel to fight fires by doubling the tax credit for volunteer firefighters, bringing it to $6,000.

McMullen said it wasn’t quite what the chiefs had asked for, but he said he was happy to hear Ottawa recognize the important work of volunteers. His association will continue to advocate for a $10,000 tax credit, which he says is an amount that reflects the high cost of living as well as the essential role volunteer firefighters play in protecting Canadians.