Cree get training to help fight Quebec wildfires - Action News
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Cree get training to help fight Quebec wildfires

'It's our backyard, it's our playground in the forest. We know how the terrain is,' says Lee-Roy Blacksmith, the regional fire marshal for the Cree Nation Government.

Cree regional fire marshal, SOPFEU hope to expand program and training in future

An instructor speaks with a group of Cree auxiliary trainees in fighting forest fires
A group of Cree got SOPFEU training in auxiliary forest fire fighting in Mont Tremblant this past weekend. Another 30 people are being trained in Chisasibi this week. Officials from both SOPFEU and the Cree Nation Government say they hope to expand the training and collaboration in the years ahead. (Grand Council of the Crees)

In every Cree community, people have come forward wanting to help fight wildfires raging since early June in northern Quebec.

Now, some of them are receiving the Socitde protection des forts contre le feu (SOPFEU) training that will allow them to work as auxiliary forest firefighters for Quebec's fire prevention agency.

"It's our [backyard], it's our playground in the forest. We know how the terrain is," said Lee-Roy Blacksmith, the regional fire marshal for the Cree Nation Government. Blacksmith said he's been trying to get this training for a few years.

Auxiliary forest firefighters are able to work under the supervision of SOPFEU staff and are able to put out small fires and what arereferred to as"hotspots,"or small fires that reignite in an area after a fire has moved on.

Blacksmith says in every Cree community at least 30 people have expressed an interest in getting the training tohelp protect their communities, their cabins and the territory.

Land up to the edge of a lake burns in northern Quebec
More than three million hectares of forest have burned in the northern regions of Quebec, including Cree territory, according to SOPFEU, Quebec's fire prevention agency. (SOPFEU)

Blacksmith and SOPFEU, Quebec's fire prevention agency, have quickly organized training outside the usual springtime training, with support from Indigenous Services Canada.

In the last few weeks, 40 peoplefrom Waswanipi and Ouj-Bougoumou, have received three days of training, said Blacksmith.

And this week, another 30 from Chisasibi started receiving the training in the community, he said. Chisasibi is the largest of the Cree communities with a population of more than 5,000, located at the end of the Billy Diamond Highway, more than 1,400 kilometres north of Montreal.

"[The trainees] are preparing for the future. We're so thankful to SOPFEU that they've accommodated our community," said Daisy House, Chisasibi's chief, adding there were already a few in her community who had this training, but there was a need for so many more.

"The 30 spots were filled in less than half an hour," she said.

A Cree man in a uniform smiles at the camera
The Cree Nation Government's regional fire marshal, Lee-Roy Blacksmith, shown in a photo dating from 2016. (submitted by Lee-Roy Blacksmith)

The Billy Diamond Highway, a main road linking the Cree communities to each other and to the south, has been closed for more than a week now, as have community access roads to several coastal Cree communities.

On Wednesday, conditions improved enough for officials to reopen the highway for a few hours to allow those stranded by the closures and food and fuel deliveries through.

As of Wednesday, SOPFEU estimates that more than 3 million hectares of forest has burned in the northern region of Quebec, which includes the Cree communities.

Desire to help protect territory

Stephane Caron is the fire prevention and communication coordinator at SOPFEU.

He said because of the exceptional fire season and a lot of interest from the Cree and other Indigenous nations, the agency is adding more training in the middle of the summer.

"Communities in particular Indigenous communities have said 'If we were trained, we could help to protect the territory'," said Caron, adding that in an average year, SOPFEU trains between 400 and 500 auxiliary firefighters.

Caron said auxiliary forest fire fighters are a"very important" part of the province's fire fighting strategy.

A group of Cree trainees dressed in orange coveralls.
Cree trainees in Mont Tremblant. (Grand Council of the Crees)

The unprecedented fire season this year, and the future realities of a changing climate, has accelerated SOPFEU's desire to expand the number of Indigenous people trained in northern Quebec, said Caron.

"For the community, it's interesting because it can offer work to community members in a sector that aligns with their values. The protection of the forest for Indigenous communities is very important," said Caron.

"If [local people] are trained with us and with their own understanding of the forest for sure they will be well-placed to help protect hunting cabins and cottages," said Caron.

Blacksmith, the regional fire marshalfor the Cree, says he wants to expand the training for next fire season to includemore people and a full six-daytraining, that willallow Cree people to be employees with SOPFEU.