A lot of B.C.'s wildfire fate sits in Salmon Arm's hands as it houses the sole Rapattack base in not only the province, but all of Canada.
B.C. Wildfire Service's Rapattack program originally started in Lower Post up north in 1977 due to the number of fires there with remote access, but moved to Salmon Arm in 1979 for a more central location. It serves as a "home base," but crews will respond where needed in the province, such as Fort Nelson where some members are already on location.
鈥淭his is the only Rapattack in the province, in fact the only fire agency in Canada, for now, that has rappel capable crews," aviation specialist Jeremy Neufeld said during a tour of the base on May 22. "Alberta used to and now we鈥檙e the sole standing fire agency in Canada.鈥�
This year there's a full crew of approximately 45 people, 50 per cent of them female, who live, work and train on base that consists of operations buildings and 20 double occupancy units in "Cabin Town."
鈥淔or me, that鈥檚 the highlight of this place, because that鈥檚 where you build community," Neufeld said. "And it鈥檚 just a fun place to be.鈥�
Cabin Town was not included in the tour as it's the crew's personal space, which they try to keep separate from work done in the nearby operations building where cleanliness is surprisingly key to operations. The building is divided with the technical rappelling gear kept separate from the dirtier equipment like pumps and chainsaws.
鈥淲e keep them separate because we want to keep this gear clean and tidy, given that we hang from it," Neufeld explained, adding that dirt and grease can affect the equipment. "We want this to be sterile, this stuff that we鈥檙e hanging from in a helicopter, we want to make sure we鈥檙e extra diligent with it being in good working order.鈥�
The designated rope room has even more stringent rules too keep it clean as dirt can cause fraying in the ropes they rely on. Given its importance, new hires start out by learning the ropes, literally 鈥� how to inspect them and repack them, either in a bag or the preferred "bird's nest" method that is an intricate way of folding the rope so it easily unravels when dropped down.
The whole process is particularly important because while the crew has their own harness and gear, ropes are communal so when someone inspects a rope and says it鈥檚 safe to use, they want to be sure of that while hanging from it. Replacement timelines vary, with ropes used in the training tower lasting about 600 uses, while the ones for the helicopter are 100 due to more wear and tear as crews can descend faster on them and the friction kind of burns the material.
After being trained on ropes, the newbies then move onto the other gear, including the harnesses that are custom designed for Rappattack, unique to them based on what they need. They also use a friction-based descent device, originally designed for window washers, that allows them better control of their speed. The unit has been using them its entire 48 years and 鈥渨e continue to use it because it works.... if it works, if it鈥檚 safe, why change it for the sake of change.鈥�
Actual rappel training is done in stages, giving new hires a chance to get accustomed to gradually get used to the equipment and heights. They start just on hooks at ground level to get the feel of the harness, then graduate to rappelling from the 40, 50 then 60 foot levels.
Members have to complete 100 rappels in the tower prior to moving on to the helicopter where, again, they practice the procedure on the ground before ever going up.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a progression idea of like ok, just get really good in that simulated environment and then work yourself up to the real environment," Neufeld said. "We do a bunch of practice here... and then we鈥檙e pretty confident and don鈥檛 have to do as many on the helicopter.
"We鈥檙e fortunate to have this so we can just get tons of practice, and there鈥檚 a lot less cost involved with it.鈥�
Rapattack's fleet has three helicopters equipped to do rappel and hoisting, or winching that gets the crew back onboard. The contractor, Wildcat, supplies and maintains them, and can custom outfit them with any specific gear and equipment BCWS requests at the start of the season. As they鈥檙e used in other industries in the off season, such as heli skiing, the specialized Rapattack equipment has to be reinstalled every spring.
That includes the rappel anchor and the hoist that are on opposite sides of the helicopter. Members rappel from within the landing skid so the rope doesn't rub, with that done over the left side where there's no extra step blocking it. The hoist is on the right where there is another step to accommodate the taller skid gear to protect the helicopter in rough terrain.
Crews are are made up of three to four people, with each team having their own bags with all their supplies that are dropped with them. It takes just seven to eight minutes to get them "fully good to go on the ground with everything they need."
That includes a clean bag and has camping gear, food, and water so as not to be contaminated by the gear, tools and fuel in the dirty bag. This allows an initial attack crew to be self-sufficient for 36 hours for a small fire start without needing to be restocked. Neufeld added, however, that while in the past fires could usually be put out in a day, most now take longer because with "the dryness of the forest, a lot of fires quickly become more challenging."
To assist in their firefighting efforts, each crew kit also contains a Canflex water bag that can be filled from a tank on the helicopter to provide an on-site water supply of 300 gallons, though 鈥渋t鈥檚 not a lot of water so we do have to be very water conservative and pretty much dig it all up... and make mud.鈥�
That is supplied, and can be refilled, through a giant snorkel that the helicopters are outfitted with to pump from a water source into the tank underneath it and, while hovering, a hose is dropped down for the crew to fill the bladder.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably the most unique thing we do, is the water offloading, because when we tell other crews about it, they鈥檙e just like, 鈥榳hat?鈥� and have to show them a video of what it looks like," Neufeld said. "It鈥檚 a very unique and very handy tool that we have.鈥�
