Firefighter recruitment and retention top of mind as Quebec heads into wildfire season

Nicolas Boulay says no one wants to relive last year's forest fire season.

He recalls battling exhaustion and 45 C heat while spending weeks away from home at a time to battle the unprecedented fires that resulted in smoke travelling as far south as Washington, D.C., and burning 5.2 million hectares in Quebec.

"It was really harsh, really difficult," said Boulay, a forestry firefighter for 14 years and union president of the Syndicat Pompiers Forestiers Côte-Nord.

"We're kind of putting on a mindset of 'it's coming' … we'll see when we get there."

It's a job Boulay loves. But looking ahead to this summer, he says the long days and difficult work is part of why his profession experiences such high turnover.

In April, the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) announced it would hire 160 people, including 80 firefighters, in the next two years — increasing its staff by 32 per cent.

Although SOPFEU says 50 firefighters have already been hired for this year's wildfire season, retaining experienced workers for a second potentially difficult season is both a priority and a challenge.

While the hiring of new personnel is positive news for the organization, Boulay says it will only make a difference if SOPFEU finds ways to retain them.

"A very big concern is that not that many people have a lot of experience at SOPFEU," said Boulay, in an interview with CBC News shortly after SOPFEU announced its hiring blitz.

"With this many new firefighters coming we need to be very, very, aware of any dangerous situation. We don't want any accident to happen this summer."

He says the clock is ticking for SOPFEU's experienced firefighters to share their knowledge.

"It's very few people that can coach the newcomers," said Boulay. "We'll have this responsibility, collective responsibility, to make sure that people with less experience do not put themselves in danger."

Mélanie Morin, fire prevention and communications officer at SOPFEU, says new firefighters receive the same amount of tactical and safety training as experienced staff. But over the past few years, there has been "greater turnover."

"We see less, you know, 20- to 30- or 40-year career firefighters," said Morin. She said it's more common for firefighters to only stay on the job for a handful of seasons.