With a heightened risk of wildfires, New Brunswick’s Air Attack officers are currently helping in the Northwest Territories.
Provincial Senior Air Attack Officer Peter Murray says five mobilizations will take place over the next few months, each lasting about 16 days. They are assisting with wildfire suppression efforts.
“Northwest Territories was short on air attack officers this summer. So we stepped up and offered up some assistance. New Brunswick is part of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Commission. It’s an organization that helps other agencies if they are short-staffed.”
Air Attack Officers coordinate the use of air tankers or water bombers on forest fires.
“You have to have a pretty good understanding of fire behaviour. All of our Air Attack Officers are trained to the advanced fire behaviour level experience. Experience comes in really important with this role. Once we pick a candidate to become an Air Attack Officer, they go through a little bit of training here in the province, and if they look like they’re a fit candidate, they’ll continue onto national certification training. From there, it’s basically keeping Current with up-to-date technology and experience,” Murray adds.
Currently, New Brunswick has five fully certified Air Attack Officers.
“Wildfire situations are so dynamic. They’re always changing. They can change minute by minute. You really have to have your head on a swivel, because there are so many different aspects that change,” Murray adds.
He says they are always tracking the fire weather indicies for New Brunswick, throughout the day, week by week, and even hour by hour.
“We’re fortunate enough now that we’re getting just enough moisture to keep that top layer dry, and if that top layer is not going to burn, the dryness down deep is not quite a big of an issue. We monitor that daily, and if the situation changes, we will update our status or our readiness.”
He stresses New Brunswick remains the main priority, but they’ll always step up to help other provinces when needed.
