Kamloops native returns with CAF to fight wildfires

MCpl Brendan Collins.  Photo by Cpl Jay Naples, MARPAC Imaging Services, Esquimalt

MCpl Brendan Collins. Photo by Cpl Jay Naples, MARPAC Imaging Services, Esquimalt

Master Corporal (MCpl) Brendan Collins returned to his hometown July 24 to help battle the raging wildfires in the region.

He serves as a medical technician in the aircrew of a CH-146 Griffon rescue helicopter that augments national search and rescue capability and allows him to engage in medical evacuation operations.

“It feels good to be back in Kamloops helping out a bit and having the opportunity to help anybody, medically, during evacuations,” he says.

He enrolled in the infantry with the Rocky Mountain Rangers after graduating from Kamloops Secondary School in 2003. Following eight years of service as an infanteer, and two tours in Afghanistan, MCpl Collins pursued an interest in healthcare and transferred into the Medical Technician trade where he specializes in aviation medicine at 417 Combat Support Squadron, Cold Lake, Alberta.

The CAF has currently deployed several aircraft and approximately 50 members to Kamloops, B.C., to support the B.C. Wildfire Service by providing air mobility of personnel and firefighting equipment, as well as evacuation services to communities threatened by wildfire activity.

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