Despite being a local fire warden for 26 years, Matt Dobler hasn鈥檛 been called to a wildfire once this year.
It wasn鈥檛 until well into the Christie Mountain fire, visible from his back door, that that the 64-year-old received a call from BC Wildfire; only to be told that he wouldn鈥檛 be needed this year.
鈥淚t was about a week after the fire was burning, and they called and told me, 鈥楲isten, this is how it is, we鈥檙e not going to use you guys this year,鈥欌�� said Dobler. 鈥淭hey could have simply come out at the start and told us this.鈥�
That is after being told he was required to insure a second truck for his team, to help them spread out due to COVID-19.
鈥淲hen they called us this year, it was all about COVID, and making sure everything was done properly,鈥� said Dobler. 鈥淪ome of my guys leave their summer jobs so they can do this, never got one hour this year.鈥�
Dobler is one of four fire wardens in the Okanagan, with two more in Osoyoos and one in 麻豆精选. Together, the four have over 100 years of wildfire-fighting experience between them, not including their crews. It鈥檚 a far cry from the dozen or so in the region they once had, fighting fires like the Okanagan Mountain Park Fire of 2003.
Dobler and the other fire wardens had been one of the early groups on the 2003 fire, crossing the lake from Antler Beach in a zodiac and building a fireguard to the top of the mountain with pulaskis, a fire-fighting axe, and mattocks. Despite the brutal conditions that year, and his own personal struggles, Dobler was ready and willing to fight that fire until it was finally extinguished.
鈥淲e were up there a month and a half, sometimes 16 hours a day,鈥� said Dobler. 鈥淲hen that fire started, I was going through chemo, and I stopped my chemo so I could go help out on that fire.鈥�
READ MORE: BC Wildfire crews battling fire near Apex Mountain
In previous years, the fire wardens would be the first few groups called in to follow after the initial attack teams had established a fire line. Dobler and the other three fire wardens in the Okanagan are the last of their kind in the province, the only Fire Warden A鈥檚, with their crews. The fire wardens would then often be the last crews at the scenes, mopping up what remained while the initial attack teams moved on to the next major blaze.
鈥淚n previous years, they鈥檇 call us and tell us that we鈥檇 have 15 minutes to get ready, and I鈥檇 call my crew and away we鈥檇 go,鈥� said Dobler.
Instead, this year Dobler had to sit and watch as out-of-town fire crews arrived to battle the Christie Mountain blaze, and then clean up what was left, for a much higher price.
鈥淚 let it go for a while, but when it got down to the mop-up stage like it is now, there鈥檚 absolutely no reason for these guys to be in town, especially with COVID,鈥� said Dobler. 鈥淵ou have to feed these guys, and house them, and they鈥檙e still here, why? Everything that鈥檚 burning now up on that hill is inside the perimeter, in some areas where they can鈥檛 even get to, why are they here? They鈥檙e just sitting there watching the interior of the fire burn.鈥�
After a quiet fire season last year, Dobler had been ready to retire from being a warden but stayed on standby after COVID-19 struck. After this year, he鈥檚 made the decision not to come back. It鈥檚 not the end that he wished, if not for him, then for the other fire wardens.
鈥淭hey just showed no respect for the people that have been there for the last 30 years,鈥� said Dobler. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to say. It鈥檚 just the way the did it that upsets me.鈥�
Dobler has already sold his truck, and he鈥檚 in process of selling off his equipment. That includes shovels, hundreds of feet of hoses, a water tank and pump, and every other piece of gear that he assembled over his 26 years of service at his own cost. This year, that included hand sanitizer and masks as well.
鈥淪oon as they called, I uninsured my truck, unloaded my truck, now I鈥檓 in the process of selling all my gear,鈥� said Dobler.
| All of Matt Dobler's fire warden gear that went unused this year, despite the Christie Mountain fire just five minutes away from his home. Dobler is selling all of the gear that he spent 26 years of service accumulating. (Brennan Phillips - Western News) |
Dobler and his crew of eight also underwent the yearly review course, which they each had to pay for themselves, as well as a course on COVID-19 precautions ahead of this year鈥檚 fire season.
READ MORE: Christie Mountain wildfire suspected lightning caused: BC Wildfire
According to BC Wildfire, the reason why Dobler鈥檚 crew wasn鈥檛 called in was a matter of the contract the provincial government currently has in place.
鈥淪o when we respond to a wildfire, we will first assign our BC Wildfire Service firefighters regardless of their location in the province,鈥� said Kyla Fraser, an information officer with BC Wildfire. 鈥淭hen to type two contract crews and type three contract crews. Once we鈥檝e exhausted all those resources will we able to hire on emergency firefighters such as the fire wardens in Penticton.鈥�
Per the current policy, BC Wildfire isn鈥檛 able to utilize teams like the fire wardens before they run through their list of contractors and using them first.
鈥淓ssentially it is a contract that has been made on behalf of larger government,鈥� said Fraser. 鈥淚t is not actually a decision that has been put in place by BC Wildfire or the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.鈥�
At the end of the day, fighting fires was never about money for Dobler.
鈥淚t was more doing it for my community than anything else. I worked a lot of extra hours so I could take the time off for a fire. It was our community service.鈥�
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