Fighting forest fires has always been a physically demanding and dangerous job. But it can take a toll on firefighters乌鸦传媒� mental health as well.
In 2023, the deaths of six wildland firefighters in B.C. highlighted the importance of mental health, both for frontline responders and support staff.
Wildland firefighters are challenged with stress and exhaustion, but the loss of colleagues heavily contributed to the mental toll on firefighters during the 2023 wildfire season, said Jessa Barber, a former wildland firefighter who is now a safety officer with the BC Wildfire Service.
乌鸦传媒淚 really loved aspects of [being a wildland firefighter] and I think especially the team dynamic,乌鸦传媒� said Barber.
乌鸦传媒淚t was extremely challenging psychologically and physically. I worked in the same community that I grew up in, in the Okanagan. Working on fires that were adjacent to communities and homes that I knew gave it a kind of a special meaning for me."
BC Wildfire said it is being proactive, implementing policies and practices to support the mental health of its staff.
乌鸦传媒淚t's not just firefighters that bear the toll of the challenges and the fatalities. It's [also] the support staff, dispatchers and info officers,乌鸦传媒� said Barber.
One of these practices is the New Recruit Boot Camp, which prioritizes educating recruits about the risks and dangers of being a wildland firefighter both physically and mentally.
This boot camp includes presentations from the critical incident safety management team and tries to foster a culture of peer support and encouraging open discussions about mental health.
Ongoing support is provided to recruits and all BC Wildfire Service employees with mental health programs such as the Resilient Minds training program provided by the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Resilient Minds focuses on psychological health awareness where all fire staff learn skills including the "4R Action Toolkit" (Recognize, Respond, Resources, and Reconnect), intervention practices for reducing the negative impacts of trauma and mental illness and understanding psychological harm and its relation to mental health.
The BC Wildfire Service has also partnered with the Occupational Awareness Program to help inform all employees about the dangers of firefighting.
乌鸦传媒淚t's not just on the individual to have a shield against all psychological harm and we're recognizing that in the organization,乌鸦传媒� said Barber.
Reflecting on her struggles with mental health, Barber said that she has experienced burnout as both a wildland firefighter and a safety officer.
乌鸦传媒淲hen I was working on the crews, that stigma [about mental health] was still prevalent," she said. "I learned a lot of my own strategies to cope with things like setting boundaries and mindfulness through our work programs [and] through the counsellors that are offered to us, which has been so supportive."
乌鸦传媒淭he majority of the efforts are to look at things that help reduce the stigma, bringing it into everyday language, everyday training and having proactive strategies [that] are ensuring people are supported during the season,乌鸦传媒� said Barber.
Another tool is the Critical Incident and Stress Management program, which is used by the BC Wildfire Service following a critical incident such as a near miss, death or traumatic event. A team comprised of peer volunteers who have been trained in stress management, are dispatched to support teams on the front lines.
A dedicated team reviews critical incidents and determines what could be done to prevent similar events from occurring again.
乌鸦传媒淵ou can talk to someone who gets it, who does the same job as you and can understand what you're going through,乌鸦传媒� said Forrest Tower, the communications manager for BC Wildfire Service.
All BC Wildfire Service employees have access to a 24/7 hotline with mental health professionals. Available year round, this gives those in need immediate and long-term supports.
乌鸦传媒淪ometimes it can be hard in the moment to reach out and to know that one is struggling. In the off-season, some of the challenges start coming up for people.乌鸦传媒� Barber said.
乌鸦传媒淭he idea isn't that we can prevent it from ever happening again, [it乌鸦传媒檚] how can we lower that chance that this happens again by improving training or changing operational tactics,乌鸦传媒� said Tower.
Backgrounder
BC Wildfire Service is looking for more year-round employees
During the summer months, the BC Wildfire Service is one of the top jobs for young people in B.C. But the service says it is facing more challenges recently to find people who want to work for the service year-round.
Out of the 2,000 positions that are being filled before wildfire season, 1,300 of those positions are for firefighters.
乌鸦传媒淭he bulk of them are seasonal,乌鸦传媒� said Forrest Tower, the communications manager for the BC Wildfire Service. 乌鸦传媒淭hey'll work from March or April and can work as late as November if it's a busy year.乌鸦传媒�
Tower said the wildfire service only loses about 10 to 15 per cent of its seasonal wildland firefighters each year.
乌鸦传媒淲e have a lot of people come back every year, so we don乌鸦传媒檛 have to hire a lot of people every year.乌鸦传媒�
Tower said they typically have too many applicants for the available summer positions.
乌鸦传媒淚f we have a big year, there's obviously a lot of media interest and we're in the news a lot,乌鸦传媒� he said.
One of the challenges the service faces is needing people who are available to be wildland firefighters for longer than the summer since many are university students.
Tower said BC Wildfire has created more full-time positions that are year-round to combat the shortage of firefighters during the off-season including, 乌鸦传媒渇ire crew leaders and front-line staff who work in structure protection, prevention and risk reduction, as well as wildfire land-based recovery.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淏C Wildfire used to only have around 200 full-time people that would work all winter, and we're up now to 550 to 600 people,乌鸦传媒� said Tower. 乌鸦传媒淎ll those positions are jobs in wildland firefighting or emergency management realm. They don't need to necessarily be doing the manual labour firefighting position.乌鸦传媒�
This story was written by a student in as part of a partnership between KPU and Black Press Media.
