COLLINS: Wildfire deaths the latest example of dangers faced by first responders

Aug 13, 2023 | 6:34 AM

THERE HAVE BEEN FOUR DEATHS this year among those responding to wildfires. All four involved people who were working to save lives and property in the worst wildfire season on record. One female, three males, ranging in age from 19 to 60.

It is a tragic scenario that likely will be repeated as climate change makes the situation worse every year. While we have better resources and better-trained personnel than ever, these levels of sophistication aren’t close to covering the needs required to deal with the size of some of these fires. Fires like the ones threatening Kamloops, Osoyoos and other centres throughout the country point out that we need more trained people, more aircraft, and more resources to help plan attacks on these blazes.

There is little blame to place on any of these deaths. Accidents happen, especially in circumstances where you’re thrown into an extremely dangerous situation.

These first responders are aware of the dangers and do their best to avoid them. They work together to protect their teammates. But an unexpected tree falling, an accident where a driver goes off the road, a helicopter that goes down — these are things you can’t predict. And these first responders deal with these challenges every day, as well as going into the face of the fire itself.

These people, along with police, fire, medical personnel and so many other first-line defenders deserve all the praise we can give them. Most of us can put on a brave face over a beer with friends and suggest we, too, can be firefighters or cops, but if push came to shove, we would definitely run the other way. We should be thankful for those who stand to fight, whether it’s a police officer dealing with a shooting, a firefighter going into a burning building to rescue people, or a wildfire firefighter staring into the jaws of a fast-moving blaze, trying to cut a guard that will prevent tragedy.