Stillwater Consulting and Lil'wat Forestry Ventures (LFV) have partnered to deliver two fully funded, six-week training programs on wildfire and community resilience at the Ts̓zil Learning Centre in Mount Currie.
Students will learn from LFV staff, Lil'wat elders and a dozen instructors brought in by Stillwater over six weeks of training in forestry and wildfire mitigation. Those hours will be split between class time and hands-on experience.
“It’s set to get people ready to work in the field," LFV general manager Klay Tindall told Pique. "It’s not to get them ready to work in an office, that’s for sure.”
Thanks to federal funding, the program is free for students. And while training for the first cohort has already begun as of Jan. 29, another session is set to start on Feb. 12. Stillwater and LFV hope to train 24 students across two cohorts of 12 every year for three years.
The 240-hour courses will train students up to a Type 2 firefighting level—a higher degree of training than a basic firefighter that allows them to handle more complex wildfire situations and support a variety of operations on lower-risk incidents, according to the B.C. government.
“Even though they still need the experience before they [officially] become a Type 2, this training will cover off all the certifications and credentials they need for that,” said Stillwater president and senior project manager Jody McInnes in a statement.
The program also expands beyond core wildfire fighting skills with additional certifications involving working safely under power lines, bear safety, danger tree assessment, and natural resource field studies like silviculture and treeplanting. Tindall said the broader approach is meant to ensure students are employable outside of the fire season.
"A lot of other training is specific and task-oriented," noted Tindall. "So, you might be able to fight a fire, but then when fire season is complete, and you don't have skills to do another kind of work ... you get laid off.
"This is giving students the skills to be employed year-round."
The 2025 sessions are scheduled for the start of the year, partly because it’s the slowest time of year for LFV and therefore more instructors are available, and partly because it also allows the program to roll smoothly into forestry season.
"The training lines up quite well with our field season," said Tindall. "Completing this training by the end of March really does transition well to working in forestry, whether it's with the Forestry Ventures, [the] provincial government or another forestry company."
Applications are currently open for the second cohort. Tindall said LFV and Stillwater are looking for passion for the work in applicants, more than any particular prerequisite.
“It's a way to increase the local fire firefighting capacity," he said. "Although it's held in Lil’wat, community members from Pemberton and Whistler and Squamish, or D'Arcy even down to Samahquam... anyone who's interested in applying should reach out.”
“We’re hoping to get lots of applicants and be able to provide some great local skills and knowledge to our community.”
More information on the program can be found on Lil'wat Business' website. Those interested in applying for one of 12 seats in the Feb. 12 cohort are asked to email [email protected].
