A young firefighter who was killed by a falling tree in British Columbia’s southern Interior on Thursday is being remembered by friends, family, and community leaders as a kind and selfless woman committed to protecting the province and those who call it home. The CBC News reported that Devyn Gale, 19, died after being trapped beneath a tree that hit her while she was clearing brush near a fire in a remote area outside Revelstoke, B.C.
The Guardian reported that Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has paid tribute to Ms. Gale, and the western province requested an extra 1,000 international firefighters. In a post on Friday Trudeau wrote, “The news from British Columbia – that one of the firefighters bravely battling wildfires has lost her life – is heartbreaking. At this incredibly difficult time, I’m sending my deepest condolences to her family, her friends, and her fellow firefighters.”
Gale’s crew was working on a fire outside the town of Revelstoke, about 310 miles (500km) northeast of Vancouver. Revelstoke Royal Canadian Mounted Police said she was clearing brush in a remote area when she lost contact with her team and was discovered caught under a fallen tree.
Fatalities are relatively rare among Canadian firefighters, and some say it’s in part because Canada’s firefighters do not carry fire shelters as is required in the U.S.
The last such death in British Columbia was in 2015, when firefighter John Phare was killed after he was struck by a falling tree during a fire on the province’s Sunshine Coast. Five years earlier, Tim Whiting and Brian Tilley, two airtanker pilots, died in a plane crash near the town of Lytton.
Davyn Gale’s brother Nolan posted a tribute online early Friday. “Yesterday, while working a fire, my sister Devyn was struck by a tree and killed,” he wrote.
“I’m grateful for everything she’s done for me and others, completely out of kindness with no expectation for reciprocation. She truly didn’t deserve this. Devyn was an amazing sister. She was so kind and thoughtful. She was careful, considerate, hardworking. She was smarter and better at what she did than she gave herself credit for.”
The firefighter was airlifted to a hospital but succumbed to her injuries, a police statement said.
Canada is on track for its worst-ever wildfire season, with record fires also burning in large swaths of eastern Canada, and wildfire emissions have hit record highs.
In Quebec, the Canadian military is being deployed to help with emergency evacuations in the north of the province, the federal emergency preparedness minister said on Friday. In British Columbia, some 2,000 firefighters are battling more than 350 fires, and authorities have requested an extra 1,000 international firefighters to help tackle blazes that have burned 1.2m hectares of forest in the province so far this year, far above the 10-year average of 76,000 hectares.
Gale is the first wildland firefighter to die in B.C. in almost a decade. Fellow firefighters, community leaders and government officials offered condolences from across the country after her passing. “When we think about public service in our province, when we think about commitment to the people of British Columbia, it’s hard to think of a more dramatic example of sacrifice … than putting your life on the line,” B.C. Premier David Eby said, speaking from Vancouver on Friday. “This is a young woman who had her whole life ahead of her. She obviously loved the outdoors and had a strong calling to public service, to stepping up for her friends and neighbors. The whole community is reeling. The province is in mourning for her death — that someone so selfless could die during this kind of work. On behalf of all British Columbians, I want to say thank you to her.”
The Gale family has said that donations in the name of Devyn Gale can be made to the Revelstoke Community Foundation — more info’s available from info@revelstokecommunityfoundation.com
THANKS and a tip of the hardhat to P. and Matthew.
Losing contact with her crew is what bothers me.
5 years ago, Brian Hughes
RIP, Ms. Gale.
This is the part that greatly concerns me:
“she was clearing brush in a remote area when she lost contact with her team and was discovered caught under a fallen tree”
from on Facebook
BC Wildfire Service
a day ago
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On Thursday evening our hearts broke.
Devyn Gale was an initial attack crew member out of the Columbia Fire Zone in Revelstoke.
She was a trusted colleague, a loving friend, a beloved sibling and a cherished daughter.
She personified the iconic Reds and Blues of wildland firefighting in British Columbia: she was bravery, grit, hard work, determination, leadership and selflessness.
She was one of us. She was the heart of us.
It is hard to articulate the connectedness of a community like ours. We work shoulder to shoulder for long hours in extremely challenging circumstances. Those experiences change you, they connect you, they sustain you.
On Thursday night we learned we had lost one of our own.
Tragically, Devyn passed away due to injuries sustained while fighting a wildfire. She died in service of her community protecting the people of British Columbia.
On behalf of the entire BC Wildfire Service we wish to recognize and honour the Gale family.
To Philomena, Graham, Nolan and Kayln we are with you however you need us in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
The Gale family have shared the following beautiful words with us, and by extension all of you, about their daughter and sister:
As we turn into the dawn, there is more hard work ahead and many communities who need us. It is hard to comprehend how we move forward after such a loss, but we find the strength to do so through Devyn’s extraordinary example, in her memory and her name.
Devyn Gale. Colleague. Friend. Sister. Daughter. Hero.
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In memory of Devyn the family encourage donations to the Revelstoke Community Foundation, to allow her vibrant legacy to live forever in the Revelstoke Community.
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In memory of Devyn the family encourage donations to the Revelstoke Community Foundation, to allow her vibrant legacy to live forever in the Revelstoke Community.
• Online: revelstokecommunityfoundation.com/donate/
• E-transfer: info@revelstokecommunityfoundation.com
• Cash or cheque donation at Mackenzie Dental Centre
I agree that the said comment is a bit odd, however this is not the place for that discussion. This is our opportunity to express our sincere condolences from one fire community to another. This is a terrible loss on many levels, I can only imagine the immense grief this family is experiencing at this time. RIP Devyn Gale……
Maybe at the next open forum we could have that dialog…Or not….
A tragic loss for the BC Wildfire Service. Our last employee (not contractor or aviation staff) was in 1986. We have all walked many miles in Devyn’s boots and fortunately remained unscathed.
Here we do not use fire shelters, we use “Fire Entrapment Avoidance training”… if things get too nuts, back off and try again later. Another critical issue is in BC we will not use Wildfire crews for structure protection, we use fire department type resources. We are not allowed to deal with structure ignitions… I see a lot more of that occurring in the US..
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.1319366
https://amp.smh.com.au/national/personal-fire-shelters-not-used-in-australia-20130702-2p9m2.html
https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms411/fire-shelter-history
I second Frank’s comment. Doesn’t make sense.
Frank says:
July 15, 2023 at 2:34 pm
“Fatalities are relatively rare among Canadian firefighters, and some say it’s in part because Canada’s firefighters do not carry fire shelters as is required in the U.S.”
OK, somebody explain this sentence, it doesn’t make sense.
Frank, Canadian fire fighters don’t take unnecessary chances ( like some US fire fighters do) because they don’t have fire shelters.
I am so grieved by this and pray our legislators in the US and Canada do over and above what is called for to completely support these Heros. I pray for all firefighters who knew this fine person and all their families as I know how severly they have been impacted. Thank all of you dear Heros for your service to save lives!!! Rose Corley
Please spread this link around, Rose!! https://revelstokecommunityfoundation.com/donate/
“Fatalities are relatively rare among Canadian firefighters, and some say it’s in part because Canada’s firefighters do not carry fire shelters as is required in the U.S.”
OK, somebody explain this sentence, it doesn’t make sense.
On-the-fire related deaths are rare. The dangers in the forest with wildfire the public are not aware of, as are daily injuries. Devyn, may you RIP.