Loggers – the Unsung Hero’s of Wildfire Response

Intro

Over the years I have had the incredible privilege of working with numerous logging contractors and their crews while conducting wildfire response. Without the invaluable service these unsung local hero’s provide we would have had much less success.

The value of loggers work on a fire is seldom recognized but it forms the foundation of all subsequent response activities. They deliver the heavy equipment, construct the fire breaks (control lines), improve or construct access routes, move threatened timber out of the way, fall dangerous trees and deliver water to the fire fighters. All these tasks are completed as close to the fire edge as fire behavior and terrain will allow often at some peril to themselves and their equipment.

I seldom have problems with loggers on a wildfire. The contractors and their crews work long and variable hours for extended periods of time. They are brave, production oriented, reliable, versatile, self sufficient and talented. They do not regularly fight fires but always seem to answer the call when needed. I have twice seen loggers save communities when other organized help wasn’t available.

Heavy equipment lost on a wildfire

$700,000.00 loss plus three months lost income to the contractor.

They can be a tough bunch to supervise but when I give them a task they usually come up with a faster way to achieve the objective than I planned and the product is usually better than I anticipated. I am always amazed at how well operators from different companies work together with far less planning and supervision than occurs in regular operations.

What if they aren’t available?

Last year I worked on fires with several American crews. Their forest industry has been shut down for a long time and they don’t have industry equipment and operators available to respond. They marveled at how safely and fast our loggers could get effective line established.

Many people and groups in BC are anti-logging. In recent years the forest industry has been in turmoil. The multiple stress’s on the industry are well documented. Most of the large forest companies have centralized operations but most of the contractors still live and work in rural areas. Even multi-generation contractors are having difficulty surviving and many are shutting down. This situation is only going to get worse as they face a seemingly endless number of threats to their viability. Besides the catastrophic loss to our economy we may lose an integral component of our wildfire response.

There are already far fewer pieces of heavy equipment and qualified operators available to respond to wildfires in BC than there were just a few years ago. Without this valuable pool of help we won’t get control lines constructed as safely, fast, or to as high a standard. We may end up relying more on people on the ground who will be exposed to falling trees, rolling debris and other hazards. Control line construction will be slower, more dangerous and less effective.

What has been done?

In recent years the BC Wildfire Service has improved their financial relationship with logging contractors. Rates are fair and payment prompt. This is a huge step and many thanks should go to the folks in BCWS who recognized and resolved these issues. It helped encourage many logging contractors to come back into the fire-fighting team.

Many local BC Wildfire Service Zone staff are working at improving their relationship with local logging contractors and industry partners.

What else can we do?

1. It has been a rough few years for contractors and their crews. Most are in the process of suspending operations due to rising fire danger ratings as required by legislation. This is probably going to be a long layoff and operators may move on making it difficult for contractors to get back into production when conditions improve. I suggest the BC Wildfire Service get as many of them on Standby as soon as possible to ensure they are available when needed.
2. BC Wildfire and contractor associations should communicate the important contributions these unsung hero’s provide to wildfire response in BC. Not to dismiss the value of other organized responders contribution but loggers seldom make the news when responding to wildfires. We should let the public know what a valuable service they provide.
3. BC Wildfire, other government agencies, forest companies and contractor associations should work on re-establishing the team concept that was prevalent in previous times. Some Zones are already well on their way to accomplishing this. There are many mutually beneficial solutions to the problems that face all groups involved.

Local Zone supervisors showed up at start of shift on a wildfire to thank operators for their good work.

There are numerous and well documented social and economic benefits of having a healthy logging contractor group in our province. We also have to recognize and support contractors to ensure they are available to help us when we need them on wildfires.

Talk soon

Doug