Retired conservation staff eager to help, but the call never comes

A retired Manitoba Conservation manager, who has firefighting expertise, said he and five other retirees have offered to pitch in with the wildfire battle, but they’ve been ignored.

“We have experience. Nobody cares and nobody understands,” said Daryll Hedman, 65. “If we rolled up our sleeves right now and got at it, we may be able to protect the cottages and the Flin Flon area,” he said Tuesday morning from where he’s staying in Virden, 660 kilometres south of his home at Big Island near Flin Flon, following the mandatory evacuation of the area.

Flin Flon residents are part of the 17,000 people who have been kicked from their homes due to encroaching fires.

Hedman was a regional wildlife manager and director who started as a conservation officer 40 years ago.

He said fire crews had a limited window of opportunity on Tuesday, owing to favourable winds, to conduct a “back burn” to redirect the out-of-control blaze away from Flin Flon and nearby lakeside communities, including his own home at Big Island.

“We’re going to lose over 200 cabins if this isn’t done immediately,” said Hedman. “That’s where I’m trying to get a hold of somebody with the government to be able to take over this fire and action it because we do have certain personnel or individuals that could make a difference on this fire right now — but we’re not getting anywhere. That’s extremely frustrating,” he said.

“I’ve been asking fire management daily to hire back at least six individuals that have fire experience in the Flin Flon area, and we’ve all got over 40-plus years of fire experience. We’re just getting denied to come back and help out.

He said they’ve been offering to help for more than a week.

“(We) are told ‘No we have a plan, we have it covered’. Well, they don’t have it covered,” Hedman said as the 37,959-hectare fire burned out of control.

A spokesman for Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie said Tuesday that conditions are “extremely challenging” and that crews are working around the clock with help from other jurisdictions, including Saskatchewan, to protect as much property as possible across Manitoba.

Manitoba’s wildfire service “has excellent people leading the response with expert knowledge on how to fight these fires,” Caedmon Malowany said in an email.

“We regularly consider all viable tools and support, including unconventional or community-driven solutions, where they can be safely and effectively deployed.”

He said they’re “grateful for the offers of assistance” from former fire officials, and have taken some of them up on it “on a case-by-case basis.”

Malowany did not say whether the province would accept help from Hedman or any of the retirees he wanted called up.

Two of the former fire officials, Hedman said, were on the “cutting edge” of deploying “back burns” to redirect wildfires. They were sitting idle waiting for a call to help.

“All they have to do is sit up there in a helicopter, eat ice cream sandwiches and push a button. It’s not rocket science, OK? It’s scary and dangerous as hell. Extremely dangerous… They’re not scared of nothing,” said Hedman.

The issue was raised in the Manitoba legislature last week. Tory MLA Rick Wowchuk asked Bushie why retirees’ offers weren’t being considered.

“We need all the help we can get to protect lives, property and our province as a whole,” the Progressive Conservative natural resources critic said.

“I have heard directly from retired fire crew members that want to help. They have the ex­per­ience; they have the desire. But why does the minister not find the time to answer their calls?”

Bushie replied by saying his department is responding to offers to help while it deals with the impact of funding cuts under the former PC government that “decimated” the wildfire and conservation officer service.

“We are engaging with leadership all across Manitoba – retired, current – to see how they can help and how they can step up. We’re having those con­versations, some­thing members on the opposite (side) never, ever did,” Bushie shot back.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca