Canada First Model - Canadian Wildfire Service
https://steemit.com/wildfire/@satasco2017/canada-first-model-canadian-wildfire-service
Well Folks,
I see Google has inserted its nose into Blogger, too deep in my opinion. I have written my blog post on my Steemit channel and shared the link:
https://steemit.com/wildfire/@satasco2017/canada-first-model-canadian-wildfire-service
Not happy with Google. Stop trying to steal data from original content creators. Keep your cookies to yourself.
Mountainman.
08 December 2024 - UPDATE. Trying to repost whole blog post here from Steemit:
Canada First Model -
Canadian Wildfire Service
in #wildfire
• 55 minutes ago (edited)
Thanks to Google's
infiltration of Blogger, I believe I will be posting my blog post here, first
then copying links to post on Mountainman's Mantra on Blogger.
This is the next in the
Canada First Model series, the previous posts include:
https://mtnmanblog.blogspot.com/2022/02/canada-first-model-reforming-federal.html
https://mtnmanblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/future-cf-structure-from-partisan.html
https://mtnmanblog.blogspot.com/2021/05/canada-first-model-for-national-defence.html
https://mtnmanblog.blogspot.com/2021/06/canada-first-model-land-assets.html
https://mtnmanblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/canada-first-model-for-national-defence.html
This time we are going to
chat about a national wildfire firefighting service. To be very clear, the
Canadian Wildfire Service (CWS) would NOT replace provincial or territorial
wildfire services. The CWS would augment provincial & territorial wildfire
services to protect high value assets like communities, critical
infrastructure, and vulnerable populations. Currently, the federal government
practice is to deploy the Canadian Forces to augment these provincial and
territorial wildfire services, as the federal primary contribution during the
wildfire season. Two problems with this behaviour. FIRST and foremost, it is
NOT the job or role for the Canadian Forces to be firefighters. It is NOT their
job. Second, when the federal government fails to do its job and displaces this
responsibility to able body organizations like the Canadian Forces, this
behaviour demonstrates the federal government is negligent and should stepdown.
My personal opinion, of course. Staying on topic, let us look at what the CWS
could look like...
CWS Air Assets Table
The table above shows an
asset list and possible deployment structure for the Canadian Wildfire Service
(CWS). I am using the same regional divisions I used in the previous Canada
First Models for the revised Canadian Forces - Pacific, Prairie, Central, Atlantic,
& Northern. You can review the table to see the details.
It was not that long ago
when wildland firefighting included strong employment of fire retardant
aerially deployed with water bombers. The next two photos illustrate deployment
and assets of Conair from the recent past:
 |
| Conair Waterbomber Dropping Fire Retardant |
 |
| Conair Fleet |
As this will be a
national wildland firefighting service that may require re-deployment from
other regions within Canada, the asset tables also include transport aircraft.
These are the same type of aircraft recommended for the Canada First Model Air
Force. This is a Canadian solution, and it requires a big buy-in from Canadians,
industry, and agencies. Interoperability will be enhanced if the same equipment
is used by all services. Furthermore, using the same equipment will allow for
volume purchases to bring unit costs down.
Now, wildfires are not
only controlled and contained from the air. The CWS would also have land
assets. Insert asset table here:
CWS Land Assets Table
Some of these land assets
would be in the form of heavy equipment, some would be in specialized ground
units - Type I Attack Crews, Six-Pack Crews, and Wildland Truck Crews. Again,
these federal units would be sent in to protect high value assets - likely on
short notice, in the face of aggressive wildfire behaviour. These would not be
crews or equipment for mop-up. And it would be disrespectful and expensive to
waste these assets for that task.
The last unit that the
Canadian Wildfire Service would bring to the table would be a cadre of Incident
Management Teams (IMTs). These IMTs would be used to manage CWS units in the
field, but the IMTs could also be deployed to take command of a wildfire response
that overwhelms local community leaders or relieve provincial and territorial
wildfire IMTs, to provide respite and relief.
Once the CWS has been
established and equipped, they would be stationed across Canada. They would
receive training and team building skills in the off season, but would not be
stood down. If need be, they could be deployed to allied nations below the equator
during our Winter season to assist our friends and allies.
This topic deserves a
larger discussion. Slave Lake 2011, Fort McMurray 2016, Jasper 2024 are notable
reminders that wildfire hazards exist and when left unchecked wildfires can
ravage communities as easy as forests.
Until next time...let's
talk about solutions!
Mountainman.
Further reading:
https://mtnmanblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/is-there-link-between-forest-management.html
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