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Fighting fires and smoking fish

Fire ecology camp attendants learn many survival skills

Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Trout Lake (Aug 03/01) - Wafting through the July heat, an aroma of fish being smoked was the first thing visitors noticed after flying into the isolated but busy camp.



On a hot July day, Tanya Hardisty sometimes preferred using her back pump to spray people rather than fires at Trout Lake's fire ecology camp. - Dave Sullivan/NNSL photo


The ingenious smokehouse is a large crate, turned upwards like a wooden refrigerator. It was originally used to ship government houses.

That nothing is wasted here is fitting for Trout Lake's fire ecology camp.

Last week the firefighting base was turned into a hands-on school for teens who could have directed their energy to less constructive pursuits.

The dozen youths learned how to handle hoses at pressures of 150 pounds per square inch, and there was a lot more.

Participants said they learned a lot about the land, including navigating through woods, fishing and how a forest fire thinks.

"I wanted to get some experience. That's why I came out here. I want to take the advanced course next year," said Janine Champagne, one of a dozen who signed up.

For Tanya Hardisty the most rewarding part was learning how to dry fish. When one firefighter bagged a moose, they learned how to skin it.

Putting the youths in touch with traditional lifestyles was a priority for organizer Daniel Allaire. He received a lot of support from his employer at RWED. The department even paid participants $50 a day.

For the last day Allaire devised a fun way to put to the test everything the youths learned.

Two teams were pitted against each other in a race to attack a mock fire.

"The winning team members will get a helicopter ride," Allaire announced.

At the end of the gauntlet, near where the fire would be, there is just one length of extra hose long enough to reach it.

The team to grab it first would connect the hose and win the contest. Along the way, points could be lost for unsafe practices like running.

Struggling under the weight of the hoses she was hauling for her team, Hardisty said, "I'm never going to make it as a firefighter."

Allaire didn't tell either team that each would get a helicopter ride, and in the end didn't have to because the contest was a draw.

After the contest, campers had a water fight.