Chetwynd residents rally in support of petition against fire crew relocation

CHETWYND, B.C. – A petition in Chetwynd says the government needs to consult the people living in the district before moving the Northern Initial Fire Attack Crew to Dawson Creek.

Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston reiterated the provincial government’s commitment to the move in a letter to Chetwynd’s mayor and council last month, despite pushback from residents, other nearby communities, and Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier.

Rebecca Hallaert, a resident who runs a small business called Inner Sage Therapies in town, created the petition alongside other community members.

She says the government must do more to consult residents about the move.

“Once we saw it coming down the pipe that [the attack crew] was actually going to be moved out of our community, the decision was already done,” Hallaert says.

Hallaert says residents are against the move because of how dangerous forest fires can be in northeast B.C.

“We had a very, obviously, bleak winter, without a lot of snow and precipitation and all that stuff. We witnessed what happened last year, and it’s just compounded this year.”

As of April 1st, the BC River Forecast Centre reports that the Peace region has 65 per cent of its normal snowpack for this time of year due to the warm winter and ongoing drought conditions.

Her primary concern is that response times will increase if there aren’t enough firefighters stationed in Chetwynd to tackle a serious blaze. 

In his letter to council, Ralston said that the move wouldn’t cause a significant increase in response times.

“The Dawson Creek Fire Zone, within which Chetwynd is located, assigns staff and resources based on hazard and fire activity levels,” Ralston’s letter reads, “and though personnel will not be stationed in Chetwynd full-time, they will be available when their capabilities are needed.”

Ralston also said that when nobody is stationed at the Chetwynd facility, crews could arrive there by helicopter within 20 to 30 minutes.

The petition is available to sign at Hallaert’s business, located at 4741 51st Street in Chetwynd, and at the office for Peace FM and CHET TV, an independently-owned TV and radio station.

According to Hallaert, more copies of the petition are being distributed throughout Chetwynd to local businesses, and she intends to collect them later, but no firm date has been set yet.

As such, she says there’s no way to know the exact number of people who have already signed it, but she says the goal is to get as many signatures as possible to get the government’s attention.

“You really have to look if you get a package with two to three thousand signatures, that’s important to the community,” Hallaert explains. 

Marlon Gomez, the general manager for Peace FM and CHET TV, says they’re allowing people to sign it there because it’s an important issue for residents.

“We support it because we live here, and we have our families here,” Gomez says. 

“We want to make sure that, when fires happen – and they will, as you look at the BC Wildfires map, wildfire season started in March – you’ll see that it’ll be important to have rescue personnel as soon as possible.”

Energeticcity.ca contacted the District of Chetwynd and Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier for comment, but neither responded in time for publication.