Fraser Valley – The Chilliwack Fire Department, in partnership with the City of Chilliwack and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), hosted 128 firefighters from Chilliwack, Mission, the Chilliwack River Valley, Agassiz, Popkum, and Abbotsford for a comprehensive wildland urban firefighting course called Responding to the Interface (RTI).
This was March 1 through the 4.
In the videos. you will see some of the training that was on Chilliwack Mountain. Andy Brown, Assistant Chilliwack Fire Chief and Blake Miller with the Scottsdale Arizona Fire Department as IAFF International Association of Firefighters, wants to thank the residents for putting up with the experience where trainees were working on their properties. Also a thank you to the various fire departments in the Valley and various levels of government in Canada and the US for putting this event on. While this is a first for the Fraser Valley, these training exercises are common place. With increased concerns about drought and interface fires (Urban and rural meeting and merging into one huge fire) there will be more of these events and sadly, more of a need.
Provincial ministries have put out the warning that 2024 has the potential to be a wildfire season like no other, mainly due to the serious drought forecast.
Supported through grant funding from the federal government, this course provides Structural Firefighters with comprehensive training and information regarding wildland urban interface response, command, strategies, and tactics. Firefighters will learn these critical skills through a combination of classroom sessions and mock response scenarios in the community. The RTI (Responding to Interface Fires) course is presented by IAFF instructors from across Canada and the United States.
Wildland Firefighters are experts at combatting fires in our forests and grasslands, while Structural Firefighters are trained and experienced dealing with structural and wildland fires. The Wildland Urban Interface is where the two environments meet, and fighting fires in the interface requires its own set of knowledge, skills and tactics.
If you see a wildfire in the back country, report it to BC Wildfire Service as soon as possible by calling 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on a cell phone. For additional tips, visit BC Wildfire Service’s WildfirePrevention page.
