Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Firefighters from Jasper National Park have been sent to Oregon, U.S.A, to help crews already there with wildfire efforts.
Wildfires have been burning in the western states of America, including Oregon, Washington and California, since late July. Millions of acres of land has been destroyed, entire towns have been leveled and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
And, as Jasper National Park is a member of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), the agency has sent some of Jasper’s specialists to help.
Steve Young, a spokesman for Jasper National Park, said in an email, "Twenty-five Parks Canada fire management specialists are in the western United States, assisting our American colleagues in protecting communities during an unprecedented wildfire season."
Those specialists are Brett Haug, who will help with helicopter operations, Beau Michaud, who will lead a task force team, and Clayton Praill, Sean Buckle, Adam Mcnutt, Coulter Schmitz and Christine Brown.
The Jasper crew is joining a 20-person Parks Canada team with fire specialists from Prince Albert National Park, Wood Buffalo National Park, Rouge National Urban Park, Bruce Peninsula National Park and Fathom Five National Marine Park, and Pukaskwa National Park.
"The Parks Canada team is being assigned to work in conditions similar to what they are used to working in at home," Young said. "These conditions include terrain and vegetation types."
He explained as specialists in wildland fire management, Parks Canada personnel are not trained in structural fire fighting. They may be assigned to work in the wildland/urban interface, which is where forested landscapes meet urban development.
The firefighters will follow strict COVID-19 protocols in the U.S., and when they return to Canada. Their length of stay in Oregon is undetermined at this time.
"Please join us in wishing a safe operation to our Parks Canada team members, the 300 Canadian firefighters they have joined, and their American colleagues as they work together to help our neighbours," Young shared.
