Fighting wildfires has always been a physically demanding job, but attention is increasingly being paid to the mental health toll.
Typically, wildland firefighters head out at the end of May. This year, however, they were battling wildfires in April. Longer seasons mean longer time away from family and loved ones.
"I hear it over and over again that these are unprecedented conditions, and yet every other week there's new unprecedented conditions," Steve Lemon, an incident commander with BC Wildfire Service, told CBC News.
Lemon, who said he has lost five colleagues to suicide, is also a safety and well-being officer trying to accelerate a cultural shift toward more discussions about mental health within firefighting.
The job has become mentally tougher as fires have become larger and more complex, increasingly getting close to or reaching areas where people live, officials say.
Colleen Kamps, a psychotherapist who works with the non-profit Tema Foundation, has seen the impact first hand while helping crews in Nova Scotia.
She said one firefighter with more than 20 years of experience told her he can handle his job, but at times this season, he has not been able to stop crying.
"My thing is, it's OK not to be OK; you're allowed to have feelings," she said.
As Canada deals with its worst wildfire season ever, crew leaders and firefighting company managers are on alert for warning signs of mental-health struggles.
Some agencies are giving crews more days off between successive tours to help combat long-term fatigue. The BC Wildfire Service is also partnering with the University of Northern British Columbia to study how wildfire affects firefighters' mental health.
