Heather Pridham
By Heather Pridham
Fire Information Officer
North West Region
The Fort Frances Fire Management Headquarters has some of the most knowledgeable and talented staff in the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergencies Services (AFFES) branch of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).
A large portion of the staff at the Fort Frances Fire Management Headquarters are local people from Fort Frances, Rainy River and Atikokan as well as the surrounding First Nation communities.
The well-known success of this Fire Management Headquarters is in part by the high level of training, familiarization and awareness of its staff at all levels.
The Fort Frances Fire Management Headquarters held its annual Vedette Lake Training Blitz at Vedette Lake Forward Attack Base, on June 13-15.
It was three days of focused training for FireRangers, radio operators and overhead staff. There is mandatory training every year that happens all across Fire Management Headquarters in Ontario.
Whether this is your first year in the fire program or your 30th year in the fire program, everyone goes through the same training.
It’s an excellent opportunity for the more experienced staff to pass their knowledge and tricks of the trade on to the newer faces in the crowd.
It also creates the important team atmosphere that goes a long way when the crews are dispatched to forest fires for up to 14 days.
Vedette Lake Forward Attack Base is one of five Forward Attack Bases strategically placed across northwestern Ontario.
Forward Attack Bases (FAB) allow for a more timely response to forest fires by providing a base where personnel and resources can be strategically placed closest to the high hazard areas, and readily dispatched during the forest fire season.
While the Vedette Blitz was going on, the Botsford Crew was dispatched to Fort Frances District Fire #15, which was located south of Otterskin Lake and east of Derby Lake, approximately 55 km north of Fort Frances.
The Botsford Crew promptly put out this fire in standing timber and returned to Vedette Lake to continue participating in the training blitz.
The three day training blitz was packed full of hands-on field training activities and classroom theory, policy and procedures.
The instructors for the courses were the Fort Frances fire management technicians, supervisors and clerks.
Things got underway as everyone received a full safety briefing on the helicopter being used for training, known as Helitack- 4.
Helicopters are commonly used in suppressing forest fires in Ontario and to move resources and personnel into remote and isolated areas.
After the safety briefing, FireRangers split into groups and learned how to properly load and unload a sling, which is a big net used to move equipment and how to marshal a helicopter to where they want it to land or drop the sling load.
FireRangers also learned the techniques needed to use “Bambi Buckets” efficiently. The Bambi Bucket is a large orange water bladder that can hold up to 250 gallons of water and is attached to the belly of the helicopter.
Helicopter pilots carefully dip this large water bladder into a lake or river and pick up water to drop on predetermined areas of the fire while communicating vigilantly with the FireRangers on the ground.
This is most commonly used to extinguish specific hot spots on a forest fire.
FireRangers set up pumps and hose and filled 1000 gallon Port-a-Tanks, used to relay water in areas where water is not readily accessible.
From the Port-a-Tank they set-up Remote Access Kits, which are even smaller water bladders that can be delivered by helicopter to FireRangers and are most commonly used in areas of high topography where there is no water available to pump from.
Fire Management Technicians detailed the most efficient and effective way to use this specialised forest fire suppression equipment and crews were responsible for the proper set up and retrieval of equipment.
Engine 5 is the Wildland Response Engine at the Fort Frances Fire Management Headquarters, and was operated by qualified staff, and practical demonstrations were held by all FireRanger Crews.
This particular piece of equipment is used in Fort Frances in the spring to fight grass fires and is an excellent way to transport water to fill Port-a-Tanks that are road accessible.
Crews practiced setting up the engine, filling the large water tank with a Mark 3 Power Pump and then pumping out of it.
To be able to drive Engine 5, a person must have their DZ Ontario Driver’s Licence with an airbrake endorsement.
In the classroom, FireRangers were learning about MNR specific policy and procedure for the safe operation of chainsaws.
They learned about kick-back, the different notches and their applications, field retrieval of the chainsaw and how to properly maintain and clean their chainsaws.
Then, the next day they headed out to practice their cutting skills under the supervision of MNR certified trainers.
On every FireRanger Crew there is at least one person who is certified to MNR standards to operate a chainsaw, they are responsible for cutting safe helipads for helicopters to land, clearing out fire lines, and clearing deadheads or chicots from camping areas used by FireRangers.
Chainsaws are one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment FireRangers use daily, so the training and certification to use this equipment is intense and it can take a couple of summers before a person can be certified to run the chainsaw.
Radio operators participated in specific training that they also have to renew annually. They practiced their radio skills through mock procedures and operated the radio for all aerial and ground operations.
To be a good radio operator you have to be a high functioning, multi-tasker, because you may have multiple aircraft and FireRanger crews talking to you at the same time while you’re entering the information into E-Log, which is a computer program used to track communications.
The radio operator is also communicating information and instructions from the Fire Management Headquarters to the aircraft and FireRangers.
The information being entered into E-Log has to be precise, detailed, and accurate, because those written records could be use in an investigation or audit in the future.
Needless to say, they have a very stressful job balancing all of the communications requirements of a Fire Management Headquarters on a daily basis.
Training to such an extent leads to proficiency, knowledge, skills and a high quality work force. This is imperative in an organization where a majority of the staff is seasonal and under 25 years of age.
Annual training also includes such things as transportation of dangerous goods, workplace hazardous material information system, bear safety, safe boating practices, aircraft safety and familiarization, bush road driving, ATV training, and values protection—that’s on top of the regulated FireRanger training specific to each piece of equipment used in the field.
Training blitzes such as the Vedette Lake Training Blitz help create a safe learning environment for everyone, where there is lots of opportunity to ask questions, get clarification and try out the equipment.
This goes a long way to creating a safe work culture within AFFES and develops staff that are highly skilled and knowledgeable.
Another successful Vedette Lake Training Blitz has prepared the staff at the Fort Frances Fire Management Headquarters for the forest fires that may lie ahead this summer.
