Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
July 14, 2023 - 11:19 AM
A BC Wildfire firefighter died in hospital yesterday after her crew freed her from under a fallen tree while working a small blaze near Revelstoke yesterday.
Devyn Gale, 19, who has been identified by her brother, was clearing brush in a remote area near Revelstoke yesterday afternoon, July 13, when her team lost sight of her. They found her caught under a fallen tree and gave her first aid until she could be airlifted to Queen Victoria Hospital in Revelstoke, where she succumbed to her injuries, RCMP said in a news release.
Nolan Gale said in an Instagram post that his sister was "kind and thoughtful," and he's grateful to have grown up alongside her.
"Devyn was an amazing sister," Nolan posted. "She was smarter and better at what she did than she gave herself credit for."
"She truly didn't deserve this."
Revelstoke RCMP is one of four agencies investigating her death. The BC Coroners Service, WorkSafeBC and the BC Wildfire Service are each investigating the circumstances around her death.
At Revelstoke Secondary School's 2021 graduation ceremony, Gale was described as the school's "best all around student" that year and "extremely hardworking."
Video of the graduation ceremony shows Gale accepting her diploma as an MC reads out a number of scholarships awarded to her, detailing her plans to pursue a career in nursing.
Gale's death is the fourth linked to B.C. wildfires since 2010.
Sixty-year-old John Phare was killed in 2015 while working on a blaze on the Sunshine Coast, north of Vancouver, and two Conair airtanker pilots, Tim Whiting and Brian Tilley, died when their plane went down south of Lytton in July, 2010.
The latest death comes as the BC Wildfire Service says tens of thousands of lightning strikes over the last seven days have sparked hundreds of new fires in British Columbia, but with temperatures closer to average and some rain expected next week, a slight reprieve might be on the way.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the death is "heartbreaking."
Trudeau made the comments on social media, reflecting similar statements issued late yesterday by Premier David Eby and the BC General Employees Union.
"We must never forget the risks these heroes take every time they run toward the danger," Trudeau's statement said. "To firefighters in British Columbia and across the country who are doing just that to keep us safe: Thank you."
Eby's statement called the firefighter's death a "tremendous loss for everyone involved with the BC Wildfire Service at an already challenging time."
The statement said the tragedy serves as a heartbreaking reminder that firefighters are often putting their lives on the line to keep people and communities safe and offers condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the woman on behalf of all British Columbians.
He death came as the province put out a call for national and international help to fight the hundreds of active fires across B.C.
The province has requested 1,000 additional foreign firefighters to join 160 from Mexico and the United States already in B.C., as well as more federal resources, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Bowinn Ma said Thursday.
The wildfire service says the total number of active fires has topped 360, while the number of threatening or potentially damaging blazes has jumped to 17, all but one of them in woodlands from west of Quesnel to the Fort Nelson area.
Lightning is forecast through Saturday in many parts of northern B.C. and the southern and southeastern Interior, but Environment Canada is calling for showers and more seasonal temperatures to start next week.
— With files from The Canadian Press.
— This story was updated to include the victim's identity.
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