There have been wildfires burning across Oregon all summer 鈥� enough of them that local personnel have struggled to handle the problem on their own, and were forced to call for help from other jurisdictions.
Among those to answer the call were three people from the NWT: Raelene Lamalice, Elizabeth Heron and Mike Westwick.
鈥淲hen one area is needing more support than what they can staff, they reach out to the other agencies asking for support," said Hay River's Lamacice, who has been working out of the Oregonian city of Salem. "The Northwest Territories were asked if they could assist.鈥�
The NWT and Oregon are both part of an inter-jurisdictional agreement that allows firefighters and other emergency personnel to move between regions and help out as needed. The agreement also includes British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Yukon, as well as Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and, as of recently, Hawaii.
"What makes [the agreement] great is how we can share resources because we already have a basic understanding of how different positions speak to each other, and the hierarchy," Lamalice said.
Lamalice, who first got involved in firefighting during the NWT's destructive 2014 fire season, arrived in Oregon on Aug. 3, and has been working as a resource unit leader out of Salem's State Department Office, where she "assists with overhead, all of the supporting roles, and all the paperwork," she said.
She will spend the final weeks of her stay in the state at a fire incident camp, closer to the blazes themselves.
"People get exhausted and reach their max working days," she said. "Rotation after rotation, you see fatigue."
"It鈥檚 good to be on this side of the supporter. Last year we were definitely on the receiving end of having resources come in and help us [in the NWT]."
She is well aware of the destructive potential of wildfire, having lost her home during last year's fire season.
"I definitely know what it鈥檚 like," she said.
While she and her colleagues from the NWT have been working long shifts in Oregon, she said they have had a few chances to explore the region they're in, which has helped her stay "grounded."
鈥淚t鈥檚 very nice over here," she said. "It was great to get out, and realizing that we鈥檙e on a job, but still taking that time for yourself."
Lamalice and her colleagues have also been encouraged to keep in touch with people back home in the NWT, which also helps keep stress levels down.
"We kind of heard that message a lot from the upper management and the incident commander," she said. "We鈥檙e here for X amount of time and it doesn鈥檛 always have to be work. Yes, we are busy, but when possible, [we] do call family back home and check in because working those long hours and being very busy you kind of forget about the people back home."
