The commander of a squadron at CFB Trenton is back in Manitoba to evacuate Canadians.
Lieutenant-Colonel Craig Greely, head of 8 Air Maintenance Squadron at 8 Wing, was in Winnipeg for training, when he got the call to respond to the epicentre of the wildfires in Manitoba last month.
Greely became the Air Task Force Commander for Operation LENTUS (2502 – Manitoba/ 2503 – Ontario).
Audio Player“One of those was in northern Manitoba in a place called Pukatawagan and Norway House. The second iteration was in Sandy Lake in northern Ontario, just north of Kenora.”
Lightning sparked the blazes and he says the community members were cut off from key networks and transportation routes.
He says local and provincial first responders battled the blazes, however, it was decided the military was required for support.
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Military helicopters on standby near fire in northern Manitoba. (Photo: Lt Col Craig Greely to Quinte News)
It is called the Request for Federal Assistance.
Audio Player“All the provinces are on the hook to provide evacuation and support in these type situations, but sometimes the situation becomes so severe that it overwhelms the capability of the province.”
CFB Trenton is Canada’s home for air mobility in Canada, so Greely oversaw the military efforts.
Audio Player“We have all those assets, we’ve got them on very quick standby. Within a matter of hours we were out the door, on our way going up north to apply this capability.”
Sandy Lake only has road access in the winter (ice roads), while dirt air strips were the quickest way to get in and out of the communities.
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Planes in Manitoba at the ready to evacuate residents. (Photo: Lt Col Craig Greely to Quinte News)
A challenge was determining how many people were in these communities and the best way to get people out, while also knowing some people would refuse to leave.
Audio Player“We had a number of different assets. The Herc (CC-130 J Hercules) was not able to go into these locations, so we primarily utilized the Chinook helicopters. We were getting about 60 people on each of those.”
Residents were relocated about an hour away.
The military was able to have planes land on air strips, while the choppers were landing in parking lots or soccer fields to evacuate residents.
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Smoke and fire in Manitoba, with a Hercules aircraft at the ready. (Photo: Lt Col Craig Greely to Quinte News)
Several thousand people were evacuated by the military during Operation LENTUS.
After a few weeks at home, Greely was called into action earlier this week, this time in Island Lake Manitoba
You can listen to Greely’s full interview on The Lorne Brooker Show below
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Lt Col Craig Greely shakes hand with Minister of Defence David McGuinty. (Photo: Tim Durkin/ Quinte News)
