With 17 of his 45 members deployed to the province’s Interior along with a structure protection unit and other equipment to assist with this summer’s wildfires, Comox fire Chief Gord Schreiner faced a dilemma.
“It’s something every fire chief struggles with …. people need help and if we’re not willing to share when they need it, how do we expect others to assist when we need help?”
The balance of maintaining a sufficient amount of resources for the Town while assisting the wildfire effort was an overall success, as Schreiner called it a ‘win-win’ for his firefighters.
Firefighters gained valuable experience and were able to make an impact on the wildfires.
“It was a bit of a steep learning curve … we were a bit outside of our element. There was a seven day minimum commitment with 12 hour days, but it was great experience.”
Schreiner himself served as a structure protection specialist, and was called out on July 8 initially to the 150 Mile House/Williams Lake area. He has worked part-time for the past 15 years for the provincial Office of the Fire Commissioner.
“My role as a structure protection specialist is to work along side of BC Wildfire and look after the structures threatened by wildfire in a specific area. This is includes critical infrastructure like wooden bridges, cell towers, hydro plants, etc.”
A structure protection trailer from Comox was also sent to the area with help from the military at 19 Wing Comox.
He explained the trailer and equipment were put to good use as he and a team worked on 57 properties of various sizes, from city lots to 100 acres, and more than 300 structures, from homes to greenhouses and outbuildings.
“Our crew covered a 200 km area of Highway 20 in the western Cariboo, which included three large fires threatening structures. This protection is done primarily by putting sprinklers on structures and keeping the structures wet when a wildfire is approaching.”
After a quick trip back to Comox for Nautical Days, Schreiner was asked to return to the Clearwater area and then was called back to Bella Coola/Anahim Lake. He returned to Comox on Aug. 27 after assisting the wildfire effort for a total of 36 days.