When Reese Lange was in kindergarten, she dreamed of becoming a police officer. But it wasn’t until high school that she decided on her true calling.

The 21-year-old is now part of an army of young men and women, many of them students, who are spending their summers battling one of Canada’s worst wildfire seasons on record.

They share a sense of duty and camaraderie.

But last week there was a dramatic reminder of the risks they face when nursing student Devyn Gale died in British Columbia. At just 19, Devyn Gale was in her third summer with the Forest Fire Service when she was crushed by a falling tree while her team were fighting a blaze near her hometown of Revelstoke.

Reese Lange is studying firefighting at Lakeland College in Vermilion, central Alberta, but has been fighting fires in the province this summer. She said she was “devastated” by the death of Devyn Gale, adding that it only strengthened her resolve.

“I feel like this makes me even more passionate about being a firefighter and learning more so I can protect myself and my teammates,” said Reese Lange, who is originally from Manitoba.

She said the tragedy bonded her class of 31 firefighter students and underscored their shared goals of saving lives and protecting one another.

during the summer break

The BC Forest Fire Service said in a statement it employs about 1,600 seasonal workers each year and about a third are post-secondary students working during their summer vacations.

“Because our peak wildfire season falls at a time when many students are on their summer vacation, they are often looking for work at this time. Therefore, 30 to 35% of them should normally go back to school in the fall,” the statement said.

Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, said “a large number of students” are involved in fighting wildfires.

Wildland firefighters are often hired for a paid season, usually between late May and mid-September. He said that during the summer months, the number of paid forest firefighters increases compared to volunteer firefighters.

“We don’t see a big increase in volunteering in those four months that students are at home and not at school,” he said. We are seeing an increase in the number of wildland firefighters because it is a reward opportunity.”

The starting hourly wage for British Columbia firefighters ranges from $26 to $30 per hour, with more for overtime and on-call time.

But for some young firefighters, it’s not just a matter of salary. It’s a calling.

Reese Lange’s classmate Mark Uwazny, 21, said he made the decision to become a firefighter in 9th grade after helping to rescue a fellow Boy Scout who suffered heat shock while trying to survive in the winter.

“[It was]how we all came together as a community to make sure a person got everything they needed in a timely manner,” said Mark Uwazny, who is from Lethbridge, Alta.

From then on, his family expected him to work in the emergency services.

Mark Uwazny said his family was “happy and excited” when he decided to become a firefighter thanks to the Lakeland training course.

In May, Mark Uwazny and Reese Lange spent five or six evenings fighting wildfires that burned about 40 acres in Parkland County west of Edmonton.

Seeing a forest fire up close for the first time was an “unreal and crazy” experience, the young woman said.

They already feel like part of the firefighting community, and Mark Uwazny said Devyn Gale’s death was “like losing a family member.”

“There’s 31 of us in our class… (it’s) something that could happen to any of us,” the young man said.

The strength of the ties is remarkable, he added.

Some young firefighters last only a few seasons. Jennifer Seguin worked intermittently for nine seasons.

She joined the BC Forest Fire Department in the summer of 2005 while interrupting her social work studies at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC.

Like Devyn Gale, she was 19 at the time. She said the news of Devyn Gale’s death left her “shocked and utterly devastated” as the young woman’s situation aligned with her own past life. Jennifer Seguin now works in healthcare in Manitoba.

She stressed that firefighting is hard and sacrificial work, sometimes involving 16-hour days in remote locations.

She recalls having a “scary” reaction in 2017 when her team was fighting a fire in Princeton, British Columbia.

“We were one of the first teams there and the conditions were very dry and very hot. The wind was blowing and it was so fierce that we had to move away from the fire, she said. We had to get closer to understand the nature of fire. And when we realized that we couldn’t do anything with the resources we had, we withdrew.”

In addition to the extreme conditions, the job also meant missing out on traditional summer activities or important life events like a friend’s wedding.

But it’s an experience that Jessica Seguin “wouldn’t trade for the world,” Jessica Seguin said.

“I am very grateful and privileged to have had the opportunity to participate,” she confessed.