Regional Deputy Fire Chief Jay Melvin on Fighting Fort McMurray Fire

A total of four firefighters and one truck from the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) were in Fort McMurray last week to help in the fighting of the fire that has consumed over 160,000 hectares.

The BRFA received a call from the Office of the Fire Commissioner at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, 2016 to help with a wildfire that began in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo on the outskirts of Fort McMurray on Sunday, May 1.

BRFA answered the call, and by 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening, two firefighters, Regional Deputy Fire Chief Jay Melvin and Bonnyville Station 5 firefighter Stephen Stone headed to Fort McMurray in a rural pumper tanker.

“We did not know the extent of the wildfire. We didn’t know how big it had gotten prior to our arrival,” Melvin says. They ended up at MacDonald Island and were one of the first fire crews there, along with the City of Cold Lake, Parkland County and Stony Plain. “Just the size of the area that was involved and how dark the smoke was, we knew right away it was a massive operation,” Melvin recalled.

Upon arrival, the fire became indescribable. “There’s no way to tell the story. What I saw, no one would believe how much destruction was going on minute by minute. It (the fire) had a mind of its own.” Melvin realized that he and Stone were at a benefit as they arrived at the staging area and started helping to fight “The Inferno”.

“Based on the equipment we brought and training we have, we were able to seamlessly work with larger departments, for example, the City of Edmonton,” Melvin said. “It was like we were all from the same department. It worked very well. We received accolades from city departments on the support we were able to provide.”

Melvin said the seamless fit of BRFA firefighters can be largely attributed to the variety of landscape (rural, urban, wildland) they work with in our region.

 

“Because our training is based on a rural aspect with urban operations, we can do wildlands, we can support major city departments, we can haul water, we can do structural operations. We aren’t one dimensional.” And their dedication was certainly a factor as well. “We were always looking for work,” Melvin said. “When we would get back from operations, we would get back into the staging line up, ready to go again.”

On the drive up to Fort McMurray, Melvin and Stone steeled themselves for the scene they could happen upon. “We mentally prepared going up the highway for what we could be involved in. There was no delay. We were ready to go. It was a challenging operation – mentally and physically. Overall the volunteers that went up did an outstanding job. I was very proud of the people that came up. It just proves that what we do here (Bonnyville region) in terms of training, operations and equipment, works.”

Two BRFA firefighters, Dan Proctor and Josh Dovedoff headed up to Fort McMurray Friday morning to relieve Stone. The three returned from Fort McMurray Sunday, May 8 at around noon.

Melvin said about 150 BRFA volunteer firefighters were ready and willing to drop what they were doing and head up north to support the efforts in Fort McMurray. All BRFA crews are now home and there has been no further request for help from the Office of the Fire Commissioner at this time.

 

Melvin said he was also grateful for the community in Fort McMurray that came together to support the emergency services personnel. “In the staging area, there were supplies from the local community. We had people there from the community who just showed up and started cooking until the kitchens could get set up.”

The ties that bind the firefighting community in Alberta became a little tighter as crews from across Alberta fought side by side, he remarked. “The camaraderie that’s there, the fire service in Alberta as a whole, we’re stronger than we were before. We’re a family.”

*Press Release from the Bonnyvillle Regional Fire Authority