leading FIRE crew OPERATIONS during a pandemic

by Sonja Leverkus

As we waited impatiently for the 2020 Fire Season to start in northern BC, our crew here at Northern Fire WoRx trained and geared up with plenty of time in advance of potential deployments.  Operating in a COVID-19 environment in a way that keeps ourselves, our clients, our families, and all those we work with safe, posed a huge amount of pressure, stress, time, and dedication throughout the spring until present.

As the owner of Shifting Mosaics Consulting and Northern Fire WoRx Corp. I take a strong leadership role in maintaining our health and safety to the highest standards.

We live in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, one of the most northern, rural, remote places in the province with only one ventilator in our hospital staffed by five doctors along with nurses and support crew. Getting medevac'ed out consists of having good weather and an aircraft to take us to Prince George, Vancouver, or Edmonton.  So for those of us living here in Fort Nelson, preventing the introduction of COVID-19 and its spread in our community is of critical concern and need.

​Much like other places in the world, PPE was in short supply for us up here in the north.  We did the best we could with our local safety suppliers getting their hands on isopropyl and spray bottles, one of our crew member’s mothers making us crew masks to wear, and finally amassing enough hand sanitizer to last us through 2 good fire seasons!  TWH Oilfield Supplies provided us with the use of their outhouses which became a semi-permanent fixture at our headquarters which doubles as my home.  When I graduated with my PhD from Oklahoma State in 2015, with two companies rolling and moving forward into my professional career, I never thought I would ever spend as much time hauling and cleaning outhouses as I have this past year! 
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We adapted immediately in March 2020 when we realized that this was not going to be a quick fix with COVID-19.  Our daily practice of handwashing, sanitizing, wearing masks, and keeping distance was practiced throughout the spring every day so that it became second nature to us.  As with many fire crews and field crews, we are a big family used to relying on each other and being in close physical proximity with each other in helicopters, trucks, UTVs, and walking through the bush.  

​We developed apps and protocols with our collaborating companies – primarily with one of the main oil and gas companies we work with and our primary helicopter company – and had those protocols prepared for implementation immediately.  We relied on the good material from the BC Forest Safety Council, Western Forestry Contractors’ Association, and WorkSafeBC to guide all of our procedures.  We developed our own online applications and forms for self-assessments and tracing.  We firmly believed and knew that we could keep working if we had good protocols in place following all the most current recommendations.  

​Waterax provided us with excellent information on sanitizing our pumps and hoses and how we could work on the fireline while keeping ourselves safe.  The first few flights in the helicopter provided us the opportunity to remember where we put our hands, to keep our masks on, and to sit in the same spaces each time.  We practiced our protocols, talked about them, worked them out, and made them into a safety program that I am incredibly proud of as leaders in our community.  And not once did any of our crew question what we were doing as everyone was aware that we needed to add these measures in order to keep working throughout the year.

While we only had 1 very small fire in our zone this past fire season which the BC Wildfire Service actioned on their own, we were the best prepared we have ever been with up to 25 crew members including our first ever all female 5-pack.  Our fitness test scores were in, our insurance was paid for, our trucks were ready to go along with sharpened pulaskis and tight water packs, alas, the summer was a wet one – enough lightning but mainly followed with precip.
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We busied ourselves with other work where we could hustle it up and that rolled us to some excellent prescribed fire work with the Burns Lake Community Forest and BC Wildfire Service until there too, we received precip when we didn’t need it and had to postpone until the spring.

​Fortunately, we were awarded a contract with the Fort Nelson First Nation doing fuel treatment which is an excellent complement to wildland firefighting.  We also picked up several oil and gas jobs along the way and we are now rolling into more fuel treatment here within our community.  Our safety practices, safety mindedness, and our concern for all of our crew, families, and this community has allowed us to work effectively, efficiently, and within this COVID-19 environment.  We are conscious of taking care of ourselves so that we can take care of others and to prevent any potential opportunity for the transmission of COVID-19.  We have had less than 10 reported cases in our community since March and we all hope to keep it that way together.

​Perhaps one of the greatest challenges training and running a crew during a pandemic is the extra time and money it takes to make sure we all have the proper PPE; that interiors of trucks and other surfaces are sprayed down; and that we have the opportunity to keep distanced. Keeping 2-3 outhouses on the back of a flat deck trailer and 1-2 classrooms and gear sprayed down and safe for our crew was a lot of work.  In addition to getting up an hour early to get everything re-sanitized and warmed up for each day, the mental and emotional stress and fatigue around COVID-19 has been extensive and far more intense than what can already be stressful times.  I found myself waking up in the middle of the night many times worried about my family and my crew and asking myself if I was doing everything I could to keep us all safe.  

The hardest part with COVID-19 is that you don’t know if you or others have it.  There’s no big flashing neon sign above someone’s head that says they are safe or not so everyone just has to keep their distance.  No hand shaking, no hugging, and no close proximity which I realize, as a crew and for both of my companies, those are important aspects within our crew and with our clients as appropriate. 

The biggest lesson I have learned over the past year in this global pandemic is that we always need to have our brains turned on to keeping ourselves and each other safe.  It is far too easy to accidentally forget to wear a mask or sanitize a vehicle.  We must continue to be diligent in all of our efforts especially as we approach the coming fire season.  

​I have the greatest respect and pride in my entire crew for their dedication to meeting and exceeding our safety protocols and to upholding COVID-19 preparedness, protection, and prevention in their daily lives.  I also firmly believe that we can continue to keep working during this global pandemic - as we have proven - in a safe way where we conscientiously move about and keep doing what we do best: working as a well-oiled machine no matter if we are on the fireline, chewing through wood on FireSmart fuel treatments, or training in preparation for our next job.  Where there is a will, there is a way forward with intention, awareness, and sensitivity to our surroundings – all it takes is for us to adjust our operating protocols, be creative in our practices and procedures, and to continually think and be aware of the greater good for all.​