Crew from P.E.I. in Yukon to help fight wildfires and learn new skills to bring home

A group of 10 wildland firefighters from Prince Edward Island is in the Yukon this week helping crews in the territory combat widespread forest fires. 

P.E.I.'s Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action now has 55 staff members trained to fight wildfires, including technicians and foresters. 

There were 87 active wildfires burning across Yukon as of Thursday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. 

"They were very happy that we were able to send some resources their way," said Mike Montigny, the P.E.I. department's manager of field services.

"They get a lot of dry lightning that gets through, and they are dealing with… fires across their landscape that they just can't deal with, with their internal resources." 

Firefighters from P.E.I. were deployed to Manitoba and Saskatchewan earlier this year, to assist wildfire crews in those provinces. 

Montigny said four post-secondary summer students involved in that mission, as well as one full-time member of the department, were among the 10 who were sent to the Yukon. 

'They're representing us'

Over the course of the two trips, wildland firefighter students have the opportunity to join professional crews and develop their skills. In addition to battling active fires in other provinces and territories, Montigny said the students end up better equipped to fight any such occurrences back home. 

"I'm so proud of the program and the team and all the people that step up every single day, the professionalism," Montigny said. "When they show up across this country, they're representing us here and they bring that knowledge back." 

While in the Yukon, the P.E.I. team is working alongside firefighters from British Columbia to contain a wildfire in a central region of the territory. There are professional teams from the United States helping in the same area. 

The experience in Canada's North gives the students a chance to fight fires in varying conditions, including one challenge they'll never experience in this province — Yukon's current state of 24-hour sunlight. 

"That was the biggest shift…. being able to operate when your body just doesn't get that rest," Montigny said. "It's really tricky when you try to go to sleep and get your rest and the tent just doesn't get dark."