Manitoba wildfire crews, staff detail challenges of historic wildfire season

The report was released by the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union and is based on feedback from crews and other staff involved in the wildfire fight.

The union for workers battling Manitoba’s wildfires say their efforts were crippled from the start this summer by a lack of training, staffing shortages, substandard gear, paper-thin mattresses and a pay scale one said worked out to $3 a day.

“It was a challenging season, and we are grateful for every worker who stepped up to support Manitobans,” Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union said Tuesday.

“We got through it, but we also saw where better preparation and resources could have made a real difference.”

The union released a new nine-page report Tuesday that details challenges faced by those on the front lines of one of Manitoba’s worst wildfire seasons in 30 years, with more than 32,000 people from various communities displaced. It is based on feedback from crews and other staff involved in the wildfire fight.

“We’re releasing this report to help fight for workers to have a say in this process,” said Ross.

The report said understaffing put a strain on workers and put communities at risk. Without addressing staffing gaps and rebuilding an experienced workforce, the province’s wildfire response capacity will continue to erode, it said.

One of the downfalls of short staffing is that there are not enough crews to attack and manage small fires before they become large fires that require more resources to contain and threaten communities and natural areas, the report said.

“Recruitment and retention issues in the Wildfire Service have led to more inexperienced crews and crew leaders at a time when we are heading into an era of the more extreme fire weather,” it said.