OTTAWA — Last May, when Jenny Saulnier was home alone with her dog in Nova Scotia while her son and husband were at hockey, she scrolled through social media and saw there was a house fire some nine kilometres from her home, and was assured she would be fine.
“I was safe where I was. I had no reason to worry that this would ever turn into a wildfire, let alone the mega-force wildfire that it turned into,” she told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday morning.
Suddenly, she found herself racing for her life — until she was stopped in bumper-to-bumper traffic with a 911 operator saying she may need to leave by foot should the flames come closer to her.
“The Nova Scotia government let me down that day. Their lack of emergency readiness is something that I will never forget,” she said, recalling how her family’s possessions were burnt to a crisp, save for her son’s prized hockey medal that was recovered later.
“Climate change is here, and it’s fuelling the wildfires that threaten our homes, our families and our future. If we don’t act, this kind of devastation will happen again and again,” said Saulnier.
She and a group of firefighters and Indigenous Peoples are demanding the federal government better support Canada’s wildfire fighters, warning that without action, more of them will leave the job as fire seasons become longer and more intense.
Harold Larson, a former wildfire fighter and a veteran firefighter from Vancouver, said working to fight wildfires is gruelling, yet there is little reward to entice people to return year after year.
“They’re fighting an increasingly difficult battle to protect us,” he said.
“The work is gruelling, dirty and physically punishing. While most Canadians are enjoying their summer vacations, firefighters are missing birthdays, anniversaries and precious times with people that they care about.”
He said wildfire fighters are treated as seasonal workers, with low pay and a poor work-life balance, and should be treated better.
The group, led by platform My Climate Plan, will be meeting with cabinet ministers and opposition MPs to outline their priorities and present them with a petition signed by some 6,500 people.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who they are scheduled to meet with, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
They want the federal government to provide wildfire fighters with equipment, more training and better pay — and to stop the climate change that is driving intense fire seasons by switching to clean energy sources.