Matt Nelson knew he wanted to fight fires since he was in Grade 7. His teacher, now-Lil’wat Nation’s Chief Dean Nelson, was a firefighter before moving to teach at the Xet̓ólacw Community School in Mount Currie.
“He planted that seed,” Nelson remembers.
Now, Nelson features in Wildfire, a five-part documentary series from Knowledge Network set to premiere on April 29. The series’ final episode interviews him for his work as part of the last remaining all-Indigenous fire crew in B.C.—the Salish Fire Unit, based in Lil’wat First Nation.
In 1988, The BC Wildfire Services (BCWS) started to partner with Indigenous communities around the province to build up local fire-fighting capacity and create employment opportunities. The Salish Unit in Mount Currie, founded in 1989, was one of the earliest crews.
The Salish Unit manages the Pemberton-Squamish Zone—stretching from D’Arcy all the way down to Horseshoe Bay. They also belong to the Coastal Fire Centre, a massive area that includes Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island, all the way inland to Hope. During particularly devastating fire seasons, they can also become a provincial resource, deployed as far as Kamloops and Burns Lake.
At their peak, there were 25 Indigenous Unit Crews operating throughout the province’s six fire centres. A short essay published in 2021 on the BCWS website recounted the benefits of the partnership.
“The program has benefitted the crews and individuals who comprise them, providing them with steady seasonal employment, instilling pride in Indigenous communities, allowing for shared resources and developing relationships between government and community," it reads. "Indigenous members have made up some of the most well-respected and knowledgeable crews in the province.”
But today, the Salish Unit is the only remaining Indigenous crew within the BCWS.
Nelson worked for six years with the Salish Unit. He now works on building capacity as a wildfire specialist with the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society of B.C.
He told Pique the decline in Indigenous fire crews is the result of recruitment struggles. Physically demanding tests, time spent away from families and communities and the cost of requisite training equipment can be barriers to gaining the new members needed to maintain status as a fire crew.
That loss of Indigenous fire crews has important ramifications for fire-fighting in the province.
“We’re not just working in a First Nations community, we’re working in a First Nations province,” said Nelson.
“For First Nations to be a part of our service is so important because we’re bringing awareness of cultural sites,” he added. “And BCWS in the last few years has done a really good job at recognizing these sites, but it's also important that we be a part of that.”
Nelson said he wants to see Indigenous fire units' membership start growing again.
In addition to effective fire-fighting with an eye to sites of cultural importance, fire crews play an important role in the community. When the fire season isn’t as active, the unit isn’t at rest. Nelson noted they’re often out working on building fire-fighting capacity, spreading knowledge, trail-building and working with communities.
He also said there’s a healing component to working as a firefighter.
“I think the other big, important piece is First Nations are going through a rough time,” he noted. “BCWS could get you back into the forest. I think it's so important for First Nations to be in the forest and part of the team.”
Nelson hopes the documentary raises awareness of the importance and engaging nature of the work. He remembers the job as being a north star for him when he was young.
“I'm hoping to pull a lot of our young Indigenous people, pull them into the crew so that way we could teach them structure and have a goal to push for,” he told Pique.
“It could help the community create healthier youth and give us direction, because it gave me a lot of direction. I'm hoping I could give other people direction.”
Crews number about 21 to 22 members. Nelson said while the goal is always to reduce turnover, it’s likely they have two to three openings a year. Nelson encourages young members of the Nation to get involved.
Through interviews with the Salish Unit and crews across the province, the documentary follows the “strength and resilience of those affected by the devastation” of wildfires, and communities’ resilience in the aftermath of those devastating events. Interviews were conducted during the devastating 2023 wildfire season—Nelson’s last year with the unit—which saw more than 2.84 million hectares burned in B.C.
“As wildfires grow more intense, understanding how they’re fought and managed is crucial,” said Knowledge Network CEO Michelle van Beusekom in a statement. “We hope the series deepens appreciation for the incredible work being done by wildland firefighters and sparks a broader conversation about how we adapt to the evolving wildfire landscape.”
Wildfire premieres on Tuesday, April 29, with new episodes dropping weekly. The Knowledge Network released a trailer for the series on its website.
