Fire Chief Captain Aaron Bull of CFB Silo Fire and Emergency Services greets Brigadier-General Wade Rutland for a tour of the Shilo facilities and presentation of a commendation award for firefighting in a record breaking season, on April 16. (Photo: K-J Millar/Shilo Stag Media)
K-J Millar
Shilo Stag Media
CFB Shilo Fire and Emergency Services were commended for training 900 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members throughout the 2023 wildfire season at a visit and award presentation from Brigadier-General Wade Rutland, Commander of 3rd Division and Joint Task Force West, on April 16.
Aaron Bull, Base fire chief, said he is proud of the whole team and receiving the award is an honour.
The CFB Shilo Fire and Emergency Services team spend most summer days in the range training area, looking after and suppressing fires.
“We do the most fires in the entire CAF. We do about half — between 40 to 50 per cent of wildfires in the CAF,” Bull said.
He puts that fact down to the vegetation of the Manitoba prairie and an increased military training tempo at the Shilo Base.
During the Shilo fire and emergency facilities tour, the BGen said it was a record-breaking forest fire season in 2023 when Shilo personnel shared emergency life-saving and wildland firefighting skills with the multitudes of CAF members in Shilo and Petawawa.
“They accomplished this despite the existing high operational tempo with limited personnel while simultaneously maintaining the full provision of emergency services to the Shilo Garrison and Range Training Area to the credit of 3rd Canadian Division,” BGen Rutland said.
The CFB Shilo Fire and Emergency Services team received a commendation award for firefighting in a record-breaking season on April 16. (Photo: K-J Millar/Shilo Stag Media)
Brigadier-General Wade Rutland tries on emergency equipment during a tour of the CFB Shilo Fire and Emergency Service facilities after presenting the team with a commendation award for firefighting in a record-breaking season, on April 16. (Photo: K-J Millar/Shilo Stag Media)