Cree get training to help fight Quebec wildfires

In every Cree community, people have come forward wanting to help fight wildfires raging since early June in northern Quebec.

Now, some of them are receiving the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) training that will allow them to work as auxiliary forest firefighters for Quebec's fire prevention agency. 

"It's our [backyard], it's our playground in the forest. We know how the terrain is," said Lee-Roy Blacksmith, the regional fire marshal for the Cree Nation Government. Blacksmith said he's been trying to get this training for a few years.

Auxiliary forest firefighters are able to work under the supervision of SOPFEU staff and are able to put out small fires and what are referred to as "hotspots," or small fires that reignite in an area after a fire has moved on.

Blacksmith says in every Cree community at least 30 people have expressed an interest in getting the training to help protect their communities, their cabins and the territory. 

Blacksmith and SOPFEU, Quebec's fire prevention agency, have quickly organized training outside the usual springtime training, with support from Indigenous Services Canada.

In the last few weeks, 40 people from Waswanipi and Oujé-Bougoumou, have received three days of training, said Blacksmith. 

And this week, another 30 from Chisasibi started receiving the training in the community, he said. Chisasibi is the largest of the Cree communities with a population of more than 5,000, located at the end of the Billy Diamond Highway, more than 1,400 kilometres north of Montreal. 

"[The trainees] are preparing for the future. We're so thankful to SOPFEU that they've accommodated our community," said Daisy House, Chisasibi's chief, adding there were already a few in her community who had this training, but there was a need for so many more.

"The 30 spots were filled in less than half an hour," she said.

The Billy Diamond Highway, a main road linking the Cree communities to each other and to the south, has been closed for more than a week now, as have community access roads to several coastal Cree communities.

On Wednesday, conditions improved enough for officials to reopen the highway for a few hours to allow those stranded by the closures and food and fuel deliveries through.

As of Wednesday, SOPFEU estimates that more than 3 million hectares of forest has burned in the northern region of Quebec, which includes the Cree communities.

Desire to help protect territory

Stephane Caron is the fire prevention and communication coordinator at SOPFEU. 

He said because of the exceptional fire season and a lot of interest from the Cree and other Indigenous nations, the agency is adding more training in the middle of the summer.

"Communities — in particular Indigenous communities — have said 'If we were trained, we could help to protect the territory'," said Caron, adding that in an average year, SOPFEU trains between 400 and 500 auxiliary firefighters.

Caron said auxiliary forest fire fighters are a "very important" part of the province's fire fighting strategy.

The unprecedented fire season this year, and the future realities of a changing climate, has accelerated SOPFEU's desire to expand the number of Indigenous people trained in northern Quebec, said Caron.

"For the community, it's interesting because it can offer work to community members in a sector that aligns with their values. The protection of the forest for Indigenous communities is very important," said Caron. 

 "If [local people] are trained with us and with their own understanding of the forest … for sure they will be well-placed to help protect … hunting cabins and cottages," said Caron. 

Blacksmith, the regional fire marshal for the Cree, says he wants to expand the training for next fire season to include more people and a full six-day training, that will allow Cree people to be employees with SOPFEU.