As climate change drives up the global risk of drought and wildfire, a small Manitoba rural municipality is concerned it might not be equipped to handle those perilous possibilities.
The St. Laurent Fire Department said it’s struggling to access provincial and federal government support as it deals with aging equipment and limited staff, while handling emergencies in challenging terrain.
“Climate change is hitting us already and it’s only going to get worse, based on what we’re hearing.” said fire chief Chad Malfait, whose crew is handling more calls every year.
Fire season arrived early in the RM of St. Laurent, as a huge marsh fire ripped through the Twin Lakes Beach area on April 12. It took over 11 hours to put out the blaze, which spread roughly 11 kilometres. The fire burned within 150 metres of lakeside houses, and left a massive chunk of marshland charred.
“Marshes are probably our most challenging because trucks can’t get in there,” explained Malfait. “You basically have to let it burn or call in aerial support, like water bombers.”
Malfait says wildfires are tough to control in St. Laurent, with its vast pasture, marsh and brush lands, since there are few roads to make fire breaks.
“We’ve got 15 feet [of road] between fuel sources and if there’s any amount of wind, it’s nothing for a fire to jump that,” he said.
Malfait said in some spots, the next road in the fire’s path is as far as 15 kilometres away, so crews have to watch it burn — sometimes for days — before they can bring it under control.
Flames jumping the road is a huge concern in the densely populated Twin Beaches neighbourhood, where shoreline winds can be fierce.
“We’d really have a challenge here,” said Malfait, standing on a narrow road running between a row of tightly-packed houses along the lake and the large patch of marsh that recently burned.
“Fire can easily jump from structure to structure when they’re this close together,” he said, pointing at the numerous homes and outbuildings on Twin Beach Road.
“Then if we look on this side of the road,” he continued, pivoting to face the opposite direction, “there’s a lot of vegetation that is just kindling for fire.
“And the only spot we have to stop it is this little road we’re standing on.”
On top of climate change, the St. Laurent Fire Department is dealing with aging equipment and a shortage of staff.
Only 10 crew members fought the recent wildfire. The fire department’s deputy chief of administration, Melissa Buors, has been working hard to recruit more volunteer firefighters.
“A lot of people in the community work in the city,” she said. “So a lot of times, we are short-handed.”
Buors said the department managed to recruit two new members this year, but said it’s generally a tough sell.
“A lot of them say they’ll think about it, and not a whole lot turn out on that,” said Buors.
“Who’s going to attend if there are not enough members in the department to respond?”
Outfitting new firefighters with gear costs about $15,000 per person, said Buors.
Meanwhile, the department is also due for a new fire engine, as officials worry its 2006 truck might fail during an emergency.
“Maintenance costs are going up,” said the RM’s emergency management co-ordinator, Roger Gillis. “We fix what we have to fix, to keep things working.”
He said the price of a new fire engine doubled during the pandemic to about a $1 million, and said the RM can’t afford the downpayment.
Gillis said he’s looked into the province’s Mitigation and Preparedness Program to help cover costs, but was frustrated to learn communities can only apply for that funding after a disaster has struck, and a municipality has been approved for federal Disaster Financial Assistance.
“We need to put funds in place to stop those incidents from happening before they happen,” he said.
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities says St. Laurent isn’t the only community facing this dilemma. Its director of policy Nick Kravetz said one of the biggest hurdles is how hard it can be to apply for government programs.
“The vast majority of municipalities in Manitoba have three to four office staff doing a lot of the jobs,” said Kravetz, explaining that the time involved researching and reporting for these programs can be onerous for smaller communities.
“That’s why it’s so important to streamline and have everything in one place to help people find the information and actually be able to tap into these funds,” he said.
The AMM is calling on Ottawa to make it easier to apply for its Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.
In a written statement, Infrastructure Canada called the application “a competitive process,” but said it’s working on “improving and clarifying the application.”
Meanwhile, no new funding was announced for the program in the new federal budget.
AMM is also asking for the province to bring back its Fire Protection Grants to help small communities buy equipment.
The province hasn’t committed to that, but says communities can ask for support through its Strategic Municipal Investment Fund.
“This year, we know, is already starting off to be a very dry year,” said Natural Resources Minister Jamie Moses.
“Our government is taking it very seriously to try to work with municipalities to address these issues, as they’re seeing them,” said the minister, pointing to its recent contribution of $585,000 toward a new fire pumper truck in Roblin.
The province suggested the RM of St. Laurent look into that fund. In the meantime, the possibility of a disastrous blaze looms over the fire chief, as more and more big houses are built along the beaches of Lake Manitoba.
“It’s a gorgeous place to live, and to see all the money being spent here is fabulous,” said Malfait. “It’s just, there’s definitely a challenge trying to protect all those.”
He said that challenge weighs even more heavily with the growing impacts of climate change.