Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate the eight individuals who were recently hired by the Department of Renewable Resources to undertake training to become air attack officers. These seven men and one woman are all northerners and were
selected, after a lengthy evaluation process, from over 100 applicants.
An air attack officer flies with a pilot in a Bird Dog aircraft, and is responsible for controlling the air space around a forest fire and ensuring that air tankers are used effectively and safely on a fire. If there is no fire boss on the ground, the air attack officer is in charge of the fire. When there is a fire boss, the air attack officer coordinates the use of the air tankers, based on the plan developed by the fire boss.
Mr. Speaker, the job of an air attack officer can be described as difficult, challenging and, at times, exciting. It takes very special people who have a lot of on-the-ground experience fighting forest fires and are willing to undertake a lot of intense training. The eight successful candidates will receive about four weeks of classroom training in Fort Smith, before being assigned to work with experienced air attack officers over the summer. Over the winter, they will take further training in resource and forest fire management.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Renewable Resources is committed to training young northerners for careers in resource management and we are pleased to have, as partners for this venture, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and Northwestern Air Lease Limited, of Fort Smith. Mahsi cho.
---Applause