THUNDER BAY -- The forest fire situation in British Columbia is so bad this summer that Thunder Bay-based firefighter Peter Haase expects to do another tour of duty in BC.
Haase leads a crew of four Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry fire rangers usually assigned to the Rinker Lake forward attack base, off Highway 527 north of Thunder Bay.
They returned home this week after 18 days on the fire lines in BC.
Asked during an interview on Wednesday to sum up his overall impressions of the situation there, Haase said "Definitely they're in an emergency situation. I think things have escalated. They're just trying to man up fires, so things are hectic, and you know lots of folks are evacuated from their homes, so it's a tough time."
Haase has been dispatched to BC to fight fires in previous summers, but he described the experience this time as different because of the large number of communities that have been evacuated.
He said it was "a shocker" to see so many towns threatened by fire, all around the same time.
Haase and his crew were assigned to duty in the Williams Lake area.
They met firefighters from around the world during their nearly three-week-long deployment, including from New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and the U.S.
Haase said it was interesting to see the unique skills that each of the foreign crews brought from their homeland.
"Depending on where they are from, because their geography and fuel types are different, it's kind of neat to see what kind of skill sets they're strong in."
On Wednesday, Haase and his team were en route to Rinker Lake where they were to be placed on "red alert" by the MNRF. The forest fire situation in northwestern Ontario worsened while they were in British Columbia, but he believes another assignment to BC is in their future.
"I think there's a high probability we'll go back after we finish fighting the fires here in Ontario," Haase said.
This is his eleventh but likely his last season as a forest firefighter. After eight summers in Greenstone and three in the Thunder Bay area, the recent graduate of the Natural Resources Management program at Lakehead University hopes he can soon begin a career as a police officer.
