A new wildfire training program for First Nations and Metis people wrapped up its final session on Thursday.
The trainees were aiming for a job with Calvin Plain Eagle, who runs CCI Wildfire Services, a new wildfire contractor for the Alberta government.
Plain Eagle has been a firefighter for the last 20 years. He helped battle the Fort McMurray wildfire, where he noticed there weren’t as many First Nations and Metis firefighters as he would have liked to see.
This summer he hopes to change that, in his first year as a contractor.
“When you go contract, you kind of step out of that really busy role of the government and you’re… in a role where you’re hiring your own people to come and work for you,” Plain Eagle said. “That’s what our plan was — trying to get our guys going to work.”
15 people took the eight-day course, including Jeremiah Peace Maker, who just graduated high school and is following in his grandfather’s footsteps as a firefighter.
“It was a lot of fun,” Peace Maker said. “Tiring, but I enjoyed my time out here.”
Chris Buffalo felt it was his duty to equip himself to save his local forests if needed.
“Everybody likes to enjoy nature and enjoy the ambiance of a forest, and they’re really important right now to preserve,” Buffalo said.
Bryan McNallie, who taught the course, said teaching was never on his radar — but once he saw his work start to pay off over the years, he couldn’t give it up.
“When I see these guys out on fires…that’s what does it for me,” McNallie said. “I get a lot out of that and I expect to see a lot of these guys out there this year.”
All 15 participants are now certified and Plain Eagle says he intends to hire them all.