News & Events
‘An incomprehensively demanding job. Extreme in every possible way.’* The impact of wildfire fighting on mental health
Date/time: Thursday, December 4, 2025.
12:00 pm CST (Regina) | 1:00 pm EST (Ottawa)
Location: Zoom
*Quote from Luke Santore, ‘The Silent Mental Health Crisis on the Frontlines of Fire’, Mountain Journal, June 25, 2025.
First responders and other public safety personnel are routinely exposed to trauma through performance of their job duties, which can in turn contribute to the development of mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, and other posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSI).
Woodland and wildland firefighters face a unique set of challenges and stressors, including prolonged exposure to dangerous and extreme conditions, exhaustion and burnout from long, physically demanding days and suboptimal sleep, health risks due to smoke and chemical exposure, and loneliness and isolation from extended time spent away from loved ones and community.
2025 has proven to be the second-worst season on record in Canada, and climate scientists warn that back-to-back extreme fire seasons is becoming a new normal, increasing demands on fire fighters and other emergency personnel.
In this panel discussion we will examine:
- The unique challenges and stressors experienced by wildland and woodland fire fighters
- Intersections between structural and woodland/wildland firefighting
- Measures wellness experts are implementing to support wildfire fighter mental health
- Calls for a national-level wildfire response and mental health supports for wildland firefighters and emergency personnel, and for incorporation of Indigenous fire stewardship principles in wildland firefighting
Panelists
Erik Hanson
Program Manager, British Columbia Wildfire Services Provincial Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Program
Erik Hanson is a former wildfire fighter and is currently the Program Manager for the BC Wildfire Services Provincial Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Program. Erik is a trainer for CISM, which is an internationally recognized standard for debriefing and mental health support in response to traumatic situations. He is also trainer with the Resilient Minds for Wildland Firefighters, developed in collaboration with the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Ken McMullen
Fire Chief, Red Deer Fire Department, Emergency Services
Ken McMullen is Fire Chief of the Red Deer Fire Department, Emergency Services, President of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, as well as a member and former Co-chair of the Public Safety Steering Committee of the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT). Ken has also served as the Canadian Division Director for the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), where he continues to collaborate on legislative changes and advocacy initiatives that pertain to the Fire Service. In 2020 Ken was bestowed the honour of Career Fire Chief of the Year, and in 2022 received the IAFC President’s Award for his unrelenting advocacy work on mental health supports for first responders.
Brett Pituka
Training and Accreditation Director, National Indigenous Fire Safety Council
Brett Pituka is a passionate educator, paramedic, and advocate for culturally inclusive health and safety education. With a Master of Education in Adult Learning and Global Change from the University of British Columbia and over two decades of experience in healthcare and education, Brett is dedicated to fostering learning environments that empower individuals and communities. As the Training Director for the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council (NIFSC), Brett is overseeing the development of an Indigenous-focused firefighting academy and has presented at national conferences. Additionally, Brett has designed and delivered customized training for paramedics and firefighters, with a focus on Indigenization of curriculum. Brett’s career highlights include developing high-fidelity paramedic training simulations, providing culturally safe healthcare for Indigenous communities, and collaborating with diverse communities across seven countries to deliver culturally responsive healthcare education and empowerment programs.
Dr. Shannon Wagner
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
Thompson Rivers University
Dr. Shannon Wagner has dedicated much of her research career to the study of workplace traumatic stress, particularly as pertains to emergency responders, and she has expertise in the mental health risks of wildland firefighting. She was the inaugural dean of the Faculty of Human and Health Science at the University of Northern British Columbia and a long-serving professor in the School of Health Sciences. She has served in various professorial and teaching roles from 2000 to 2021. Shannon is also a registered psychologist with expertise in occupational neuropsychological assessment. She is currently the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.
Language translation
This event will be presented in English with the option of simultaneous captions or audio translation in French.
If you wish to make use of this translation service during the webinar: after joining the meeting, please open a browser window (on your desktop, phone, or other device) and use the following link:
https://attend.wordly.ai/join/APVF-5256
This will enable you to log in to Wordly, our simultaneous translation platform. Be sure to select ‘French’ in the top right corner and keep this window open throughout the meeting.
Circle of fire, circle of care: Supporting Indigenous wildland firefighter wellbeing
Date/time: Thursday, December 11, 2025.
10:00 am CST (Regina) | 11:00 am EST (Ottawa)
Location: Zoom
Indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by wildfires, increasingly so within the ‘new normal’ of climate change-induced fire season extremes. Likewise, Indigenous individuals are increasingly being called upon by their communities and wildfire management organizations to engage in wildfire work. The organizational culture surrounding wildfire work is largely rooted in western, paramilitary values that are quite distinct from cultural burning and fire stewardship practices. Alongside colonial settlement came a devaluing of these Indigenous-led practices and a problematic history of forced/coerced wildland firefighting in Indigenous communities.
Currently, Indigenous wildland firefighters navigate this living history alongside the other considerable challenges of wildland firefighting, which include prolonged exposure to dangerous and extreme conditions, exhaustion and burnout from long, physically demanding days and suboptimal sleep, health risks due to smoke and chemical exposure, and loneliness and isolation from extended time spent away from loved ones and community. Compounding these challenges are what many Indigenous wildland firefighters report are exclusion from career advancement, incidences of anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination, and a lack of understanding and recognition of Indigenous-led cultural and fire stewardship practices.
In this panel discussion, we will examine:
- The unique challenges and stressors experienced by Indigenous wildland fire fighters
- Recommendations and practices for supporting Indigenous wildland firefighter cultural safety and wellness
- Calls for decolonizing wildfire services, and honouring Indigenous-led fire stewardship principles in wildland firefighting
Panelists
Elder Paul Courtoreille
Fire Program Coordinator, Gift Lake Development Corporation
Elder Paul Courtoreille is a member of the Gift Lake Metis Settlement community member, a Fire Knowledge Keeper and has been a wildland firefighter for 47 years,14 of which were as Forest Officer/Wildfire Ranger for the Alberta Government. During the years working with forestry he also served as a Wildfire Investigator, Peace Officer, Trainer as well as various roles in overhead teams. He is currently the Fire Programs Coordinator for the Gift Lake Development Corporation in Northern Alberta. In 2024 Elder Paul received the Okimâw Awards Service and Public Safety Award, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of Indigenous men in Alberta.
Dr. Natasha Caverley
President, Turtle Island Consulting Services Inc.
Natasha is a multiracial Canadian woman of Algonquin, Jamaican, and Irish heritage. She holds a M.Ed in Counselling Psychology and an Interdisciplinary PhD in Organizational Studies from the University of Victoria. Natasha has held research and policy analyst and organizational development positions within Indigenous, non-Indigenous and public service organizations specializing in community facilitation and troubleshooting, management and organizational behaviour. She is a Professional Certified Member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association who holds the designation of Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) – specializing in organizational behaviour, career counselling and development, and multicultural counselling. Natasha is the president of Turtle Island Consulting Services, Inc., was the Principal Investigator of the Giving Voice to Cultural Safety of Indigenous Wildland Firefighters in Canada Project, and was a member of the technical writing team of FireSmart Canada’s Blazing the Trail: Celebrating Indigenous Fire Stewardship.
Kieran Davis
Social Emergency Coordinator
Ji-Adisidooyang Ge-Onji Mino-Ayaayang Health – Grand Council Treaty #3
Kieran Davis is originally from the Lac Seul First Nation Lookout, and has been a wildland firefighter, interface and structural firefighter, with experience in supporting evacuations and emergency management. He is currently Social Emergency Coordinator with Ji-Adisidooyang Ge-Onji Mino-Ayaayang Health – Grand Council Treaty #3. He is a member of the Grand Council Treaty 3 and its 2SLGBTQIA+ Council, which supports and advocates for Indigenous youth. Kieran has also sat on the Ontario First Nations Young Peoples, and the Ontario Youth Council. He is co-host of the When the Frogs Sleep podcast, which along with knowledge keepers, and other guests with lived expertise shares cultural knowledge, experiences and wisdom relating to gender, identity, and culture with Indigenous youth.
Jonas Joe
Wildfire Technician
British Columbia Wildfire Service
Jonas Joe is a member of the Nłeʔkepmxc (“People of the Creek”) Nation (pronounced Ng-khla-kap-muhx) of the Nicola Valley, interior Salish first peoples from the Southern Interior of British Columbia. He spent 20 years on the Fire Devils 20-person unit crew as a seasonal firefighter and ten winters in the Forest Fuels Management Department with the First Nations Emergency Services Society (FNESS) of British Columbia. He helped begin the FireSmart program, which assists communities in reducing their risk from wildfires and has travelled BC teaching wildfire prevention. He was a member of the technical writing team of FireSmart Canada’s Blazing the Trail: Celebrating Indigenous Fire Stewardship. Jonas currently work as a Wildfire Technician with the BC Wildfire Service and is a member of the FNESS Board of Directors.
References
CIFFC National Fire Management Conversation: ‘Giving Voice to Cultural Safety of Indigenous Wildland’ February 24, 2022. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_IMpXal1Cw
TICS Inc. Project Team (2021) Giving Voice to Cultural Safety of Indigenous Wildland Firefighters in Canada: Final Report. North Saanich, BC: Turtle Island Consulting Services Inc. Available at: http://www.turtleislandconsulting.ca/cultural-safety.html
Wagner SL et al. (2025) Mental health risk for wildland firefighters: a review and future directions. International Journal of Wildland Fire 34, WF24159. doi:10.1071/WF24159
Language translation
This event will be presented in English with the option of simultaneous captions or audio translation in French.
If you wish to make use of this translation service during the webinar: after joining the meeting, please open a browser window (on your desktop, phone, or other device) and use the following link:
https://attend.wordly.ai/join/HSRT-2714
This will enable you to log in to Wordly, our simultaneous translation platform. Be sure to select ‘French’ in the top right corner and keep this window open throughout the meeting.