Spring Prescribed Fire Refresher 2023 - Last Mountain Lake, SK
Do you remember Stephen King’s first novel, The Long Walk? I’m not a big fan of horror so I mostly avoid Mr. King’s offerings, but I’ve always been a keen walker and a story where the hero walks everyone else into the ground is right up my alley.
As I remember it, a hundred boys from across the country are chosen to participate in an annual walking race. The rules of the race are pretty much standard, dystopian fare. What you’d expect, really. Everyone walks at a minimum of 4 miles per hour and the third time your pace slows below that speed you get shot by the soldiers policing the whole, approximately four-day, race. I did mention it was a horror.
This week, thanks to the coordination of the Canadian Prairies Prescribed Fire Exchange (CPPFE) and a generous invitation from the Canadian Wildlife Service’s (CWS) prescribed fire hero, Kerry Hecker, I and 19 others from six different agencies (Nature Conservancy of Canada, Meewasin Valley Authority, City of Saskatoon, Saskatoon Public School’s Brightwater Centre, CWS, CPPFE) participated in the CWS’s annual prescribed fire training session at their Last Mountain Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which was not a horrific story. This day-long session, hosted at the north end of Last Mountain Lake (maybe a little post apocalyptic if you really squint, but straight up beautiful if you just use your eyes) was designed to remind us how to use essential prescribed fire equipment like the cute as a button (can a pump be considered cute?) mini striker, water pump prescribed fire practitioners use to create wet lines and put out spot fires. We got to see CWS’s wardrobe of all the latest personal protective equipment (My favourite PPE is the new hard helmet with adjustable visor and head lamp. I’ll take mine in blue, please!). Everyone encouraged each other through the relay race where two teams challenged each other to be the quickest to knock over empty water jugs with a leaf blower, start a trash pump (a versatile water pump used for moving lots of less than perfectly clean (trashy) water). But for my money, the best way to get to know your fellow future line crew is the pack test.
The pack test is a standard assessment of basic fitness for fire fighters. It is intended to prove that you won’t collapse on the fire line by timing you as you walk (yes, walk! One foot on the ground at all times! Looking at you, Myles!) 2 miles (I know, I know. We live in metric Canada, but tell that to the mile grid system here in the prairies) carrying 25 pounds (5.8 litres? 6.5 kilograms? or maybe 100 quarter pounders?, I can’t remember. Heavier than you think, anyways.) in under thirty minutes. Two miles in thirty miles is, of course, the same four mile an hour pace Mr. King has his walkers maintaining in the Long Walk. Fortunately for me and the rest of the crew, that’s where the similarity between King’s novella and the pack test ends. During our test, no one collapsed and though we were definitely amped up, the tension was definitely lower.
I managed to come in under the 30 minutes allotted without needing to dip into my raw hamburger reserve (a deep reference for all you Stephen King fans!). Actually, like in the story, small groups of fellow walkers formed during our test. I was lucky enough to stay mostly even with two other walkers and while I won’t say that our conversations didn’t include plenty of huffing, it was pretty fun and, I think, helped build some trust and camaraderie that will definitely come in handy later this year when we work together on the same fire and as part of the same crew no matter whose land we are working together to help manage with a carefully planned and implemented prescribed fire.
The formation of the CPPFE and the implementation of its strategies has been instrumental in bringing like minded individuals and agencies together to improve readiness and increase capacity to conduct prescribed fire in the prairies. Events like the equipment refreshed and fitness test are a great opportunity to meet other people, learn how they operate, and increase your own confidence. And even if some of us needed to cool down barefoot in the snowy ditches beside the road after the race, everyone survived, and we are better prepared now than before. Plus, CWS’s Jeff won a toque for coming in first place, too.
Sharpening skills and fireline preparedness with a little obstacle course competition.
Getting those feet out of their boots and into the snow for a post-fitness test cool down.
Exploring personal protective equipment (PPE) with CWS’s Incident Commander, Kerry Hecker.
Participants from six different agencies, including Canadian Wildlife Services, Nature Conservancy of Canada, the City of Saskatoon, Meewasin Valley Authority, Saskatoon Public School Board and the Canadian Prairies Prescribed Fire Exchange.