Training course open for prospective evacuation volunteers ahead of Fort St. John wildfire season

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John is just two months away from recruiting volunteers for the 2025 wildfire season.

Emergency Support Services (ESS) volunteers are usually recruited in early April. They are called upon during evacuations and other similar emergencies.

Last year, Fort St. John ESS volunteers were called upon to help evacuees from Fort Nelson who had to vacate their homes for several weeks in May due to the Parker Lake wildfire.

According to a Facebook post from the city of Fort St. John, volunteers for this year’s wildfire season are still being recruited. 

Prospective volunteers will need to take a free online course offered by the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

The “Introduction to Evacuee Registration and Supports” program teaches applicants the basics of working in an ESS environment and how to use Evacuee Registration and Assistant (ERA) tools.

“This includes learning how the ESS program operates, guidelines for interviewing evacuees, and registering and providing supports using ERA,” the course description reads.

The course officially runs from March 1st to 31st, but it’s listed as “continuous enrollment”, which means course material will become available as soon as a few hours after registration, according to the institute.

Applicants will then have until March 31st to complete all the available material.

After completing the course, Fort St. John residents can fill out a form on the city’s website to be added to its call list the next time ESS is required.

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