In the past seven years rural and remote communities have come under greatest and increasing threat from wildfires in British Columbia. There is a need for locally based, designed, and manufactured firefighting equipment to serve and protect.
Working with a local company the collaborative group, of Disaster Aid Canada (DAC), the Rotary Club of Steveston, through its Charitable Society, (RCSRCS) and Siska First Nation, near Lytton, has designed and built a prototype “Fire Trailer” to address this need for wildfire fighting equipment.
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The goal of the prototype was to provide a simple, rugged, effective firefighting apparatus at an affordable cost. It was designed so that community members with basic training could operate it along with a suitable vehicle to tow it. This micro-firefighting apparatus can respond to small, localized fires near the community before they grow into large scale wildfires. It can go to remote spaces and places fire trucks cannot, either towed or airlifted there. It can also be used to fight fires within the community that threaten residents, along with their housing, community buildings and infrastructure.
DAC and RCSRCS formed a partnership in 2021 to provide relief to Lytton, British Columbia when devastating wildfire that wiped out much of the community and impacted all the surrounding First Nation communities. Relief funding from Steveston club's Society came from many Rotary clubs in BC and beyond.
Disaster Aid Canada has provided over $350,000 for this Fire Trailer project so that RCSRCS can work in partnership with seven First Nation communities and one unincorporated regional district area in rural and remote British Columbia to supply “Fire Trailers” to begin to meet this need. The communities are Skuppah First Nation, Kanaka Bar First Nation, Lytton First Nation, Botanie – unincorporated regional district area, Tsideldel First Nation, Yunesit’in First Nation, Tles’qox First Nation, and Xeni Gwet’in First Nation.
Rotary Past District 5040 Governor and member of the Rotary Club of Steveston Shirley-Pat Gale, along with PDG Bob Blacker, says, "Based on the future needs, which the Siska First Nation has identified, the collaborative group of our three organizations has turned its focus from Lytton relief to include wildfire preparedness, prevention and mitigation. What is especially pleasing about this project is that it leverages the 15+ years of experience, of not only working with DAC in its disaster aid work, but through one of our Rotary District's signature programs, Write to Read BC, which has delivered libraries and learning centres to 28 remote First Nation communities throughout the province."