Vancouver Island transit workers volunteer time fighting interior wildfires

Residents evacuated, homes and properties decimated and even an entire B.C. town completely destroyed. The wildfires experienced in many parts of the province this summer have been particularly devastating. If not for the tireless and heroic work of hundreds of firefighters, an already terrible wildfire season would have been unthinkably worse.

Fire Departments throughout the province have once again answered the call to battle these blazes, and for a couple Vancouver Island crews that included volunteer members with day jobs supporting public transportation.

Tyler Bergen and Chris Vanderford have never met, but they both recently returned from deployments at the same camp in Vernon. Tyler, lead mechanic for FIRST Canada in the Cowichan Valley, is a volunteer firefighter with the Lake Cowichan Fire Department. Chris, who spends his days in the Finance department for BC Transit in Victoria, volunteers his time with the Mill Bay Fire Department.

“The fire camp was set up on a bunch of baseball diamonds in Vernon and it was well established when I got there. It was basically a collection of tents and trailers for accommodations with areas for planning and logistics, and we had everything we needed,” said Vanderford, who was on his third such deployment. “There were about 150 municipal firefighters there from all over the province as well as a couple hundred wildfire firefighters and support crew.”

The men and women stationed there are taking on the White Rock Lake fire, which according to the BC Wildfire Service was discovered on July 13. It remains active and is still classified as out of control six weeks later. The fire has destroyed an estimated 82,000 hectares on the west side of Okanagan Lake and forced some evacuees to be displaced for several weeks, not knowing when they’ll go home or what they’ll find when they get there.

White Rock Lake was Tyler Bergen’s first wildfire deployment. He was there for nine days, and it was definitely an unforgettable learning experience.

“Our training and preparation helped us remain safe for the most part, but there were definitely a few moments that were surreal,” said Bergen. “I was working with members of the Vancouver Fire Department all week. Even they were a little speechless, and they’re going into some pretty crazy stuff all the time.”

One of those moments included having to drive their caravans through two kilometres of fire that strong winds had pushed across the highway, blocking their main exit from the area where they were stationed.

“The winds were carrying the fire and spitting embers, almost like a fire storm.”

While both Chris Vanderford and Tyler Bergen were the ones that put themselves in harm’s way to support interior communities, they both acknowledge that they couldn’t do it without tremendous support at home.

“My boss Cassie was so supportive of me leaving for two weeks on extremely short notice, which I definitely appreciate,” said Vanderford. “The whole Finance team really stepped up to fill in during my absence. It really does take a whole village to make these things happen, including coworkers, family and friends.”

Tyler Bergen had equal support, and he even used holiday time that would have been spent with his family, including a nearly 3 year old son, to go and fight fires. That commitment is something that is not lost on his work family.

“We are extremely grateful to Tyler for offering his expertise to go assist with the wildfires, and we were even more grateful for his safe return,” said Jackie Irving, General Manager for FIRST Transit in the Cowichan Valley. “Tyler worked 113 hours in nine days on the frontline. I don’t know how he did it, but he came back to work with his head still full of experiences and images without skipping a beat.”

With only a few days to process and decompress, Tyler was back in the shop and Chris was back at his desk, both sharing that they felt a combination of immense pride and exhaustion. With the ongoing support of family and coworkers, they will also be ready to answer the next call when it inevitably comes.