Yukon Wildland Fire Management is hoping to keep potential recruits in the loop as they pilot a newsletter notification system for job postings.
As opposed to having to wait for job postings to come up, those interested in being firefighters for the territorial fire management agency can sign up for job posting notifications on Wildland Fire’s website.
“We can actually give people that nudge, to say, ‘Hey, if you're still interested, you can apply,’” Mike Fancie, the community engagement officer for Wildland Fire, told the News on Jan. 21.
There are no job openings quite yet, said Fancie, as they’re still reviewing which firefighters will be returning from previous seasons, and which firefighters aren’t returning and will need replacement.
When a job becomes available, Fancie said, “I'm going to send an email to the people on that list letting them know that it's there. And once people see the job ad, I hope they'll give it a close look, tweak their resumes and submit what they think is their best foot forward to be considered.”
He said he expects job ads to start being posted within the next few weeks.
There’s a lot of competition for firefighters in the wildland fire industry, said Fancie. Every province and territory in the country is in need of wildland firefighters, he said, and Wildland Fire wants to give Yukoners a reason to stay in the territory.
“We work hard to try and give people who are interested in Wildland Fire the easiest possible pathway to knowing when the job ad is online, and then once we have that job ad, trying to find the best possible candidates to apply so that we can have the best possible chance of fulfilling our mandate,” said Fancie.
If hired, firefighters undergo a two-week training session where they learn about fire behaviour, management techniques, bushcraft and survival skills, plus learning how to move around in helicopters and all-terrain vehicles, said Fancie.
Firefighting is likely to start in the spring when there is dry brush that hasn’t started to green yet, said Fancie. The position is a four month commitment, which runs until late August, Fancie said.
Firefighters with Wildland Fire work out of bases in the six largest communities in the Yukon, he said. However, Fancie added that there’s a high likelihood that firefighters could go to fight fires in other parts of Canada, or even other parts of the world.
“Wildland Fire is a place where you could, if you're up for it, potentially have a really good job for one summer, a couple summers, or maybe even longer,” he said.
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com