Sappers adapt and overcome to fight wildfires in Alberta

On May 15, the firefighter Incident Command Post (ICP) in Fox Creek was evacuated as the wind shifted unexpectedly. The town of Fox Creek and surrounding areas had fallen under imminent threat from the wildfire just as 127 Squadron (127 Sqn) arrived.

As a result, 127 Sqn was forced into a temporary shelter in the Air Cadet Hall in Whitecourt.

Major Tyler Ye, Officer Commanding 127 Sqn, linked up with Alberta Wildfires to discuss the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) capabilities and plan for fire containment until the very last moment before the ICP was forced to be evacuated.

Within eight hours of settling into the Air Cadet Hall, 127 Sqn leadership was involved in the Alberta Wildfires planning cycle while others conducted various recces in the area for suitable bed down locations and contracting for their essential needs. The camp construction started on the same day.

On May 17, the main force from 127 Sqn was committed to help contain the fire alongside the Alberta Wildfires firefighters.

Troop commander Captain Trenton Klimack explained changes were needed in how 127 Sqn attacked the fires.

“The gridding and mopping techniques we learned and employed in Drayton Valley were not immediately applicable because the entire area here is hot,” he said. “In the new areas we first had to run the hose down the edge of the black and wet everything down before we could start mopping for hot spots.”

Sergeant David Burr, the military police detachment commander, explained just how dangerous the situation was.

“I was patrolling the route to the task site, and I saw the fire burning all the way to the edge of the road,” he said. “I asked the nearby firefighters to deal with the fire before it cut off our egress route.”

Sappers from 127 Sqn worked diligently under the guidance of the firefighters to mitigate the risk under these hazardous conditions.

For the next few days, sappers were assisting firefighters building defences around the town by laying out hoses and soaking the ground using nearby Losegun Lake. Some of the “candles” were too dangerous for ground crews to attack directly, so sappers had to call in helicopters with water buckets to suppress the flames.

With support from the sappers, Alberta Wildfires started to gain ground due to combined efforts with soldiers from 1 CER, but the wildfire situation still did not look good. A dozer guard along the Virginia Hill Road was established and used as the last defence because the wildfire was expected to rapidly expand toward the town of Whitecourt due to strong northwesterly winds.

In their new bed down location and the new ICP, 127 Sqn spent over two and half hours on the road daily between all the key task sites which compressed the work and rest cycle.

After days of maintaining the fire guard surrounding the Fox Creek, Mother Nature finally lent a helping hand, sending a thunderstorm with heavy rain on May 22. The low-pressure weather system brought between 50 and 80 millimetres of heavy precipitation, which suffocated the fire for the next 48 hours, followed by three more days of lower temperatures that significantly reduced the fire behaviour.

Bad weather does not mean days off for 127 Sqn, however. Under the guidance of Alberta Wildfires, sappers from 1 CER conducted patrols to extinguish hot spots in preparation for the eventual flare ups once the temperature warmed back up.

The rain washed out the ground underneath the burning trees, making them unstable. Sappers could hear the trees falling in the distance as they were working in the woods. Sappers were told not to lean on any trees to avoid accidently toppling unstable trees.

Thanks to the efforts of all the firefighting agencies and the CAF, the number of daily hot spots was reduced to only five from a high of 50 earlier in the deployment. Prior to the expiration of the original Request for Assistance (RFA) from the Province of Alberta, Brigadier‑General Steven Graham Commander 3rd Canadian Division, paid a visit to 127 Sqn to assess the situation on the ground in‑person and show his support and appreciation to the sappers.

On May 28, the RFA was extended by two more weeks. As the situation stabilized, sappers from 1 CER were relieved in place by troopers from D Sqn from Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) on May 30. Members of 127 Sqn returned to Edmonton and prepared to support the next RFA.

Selfless soldiers like Captain Jacques Pecora were integral to 1 CER being able to mobilize quickly and deliver the desired effects on the ground on short notice. Even though he recently returned from Operation UNIFIER in Poland, he immediately volunteered to be a part of this operation.