Fueling Firefighters with Meals in Merritt

Published: June 30, 2026

At the Provincial Wildfire Training Centre in Merritt, B.C., recruits spent April seeing if they could handle the heat; Civeo ensured they had all the right foods to eat.

“There’s a lot of science and math that goes into knowing and meeting caloric requirements for our firefighters,” said Dustin Karolat, Staff Development Officer for BC Wildfire Services. “Food is an integral part of the operation.”

That operation involved training the 200 recruits – selected from over 2,400 applications – on the skills and knowledge to battle the blazes that will make up this year’s wildfire season.

“It’s hard to forecast; we just know we can’t change the weather so it’s more ‘play the hand you’re dealt, and be prepared,’” Karolat said.

To be prepared, recruits endure demanding activities, from digging fire breaks and laying hose, to putting out practice fires and trudging 100lbs of supplies up and down hills in full gear – the same conditions that they will face in the field.

“It was long days and hard work for the recruits, and they slept in tents on cold nights,” said Luc Leclerc, Civeo Food Services Manager in the region. “We made sure to have a warm coffee station ready for them in the morning.”

Perk-up coffee aside, the strenuous effort requires food energy, and it was Civeo’s job to supply it on short timelines and to precise specifications.

“We have to get creative with the menus to hit the meals per day, calorie levels, use certain numbers of proteins, provide vegetarian options, and all from materials that are logistically efficient to acquire,” Leclerc said. “And since there are no microwaves or deep fryers at a real fire camp, we don’t use them in training, either.”

The six-person Civeo food services team, now in its second year working with BC Wildfire at the Merritt Training Centre, operated the training camp just like it would a real fire camp, and not just for the recruits’ benefit. The team is on contract throughout the fire season to run food services for fire camps, being deployed from other work sites at a moment’s notice should a large forest fire break out.

With training done and fire season underway, recruits are now in action or on alert – and so is the Civeo team. “It was quite an active and successful month for the recruits and for our team,” Leclerc said. “I think they’ll be ready – and so will we.”