‘I’m just trying to protect our elders’: Manitoba teen helps fight wildfires – Global News

For years, Cody Baptiste would watch his older brother spend his summers fighting wildfires in Manitoba.

It’s a path he knew he eventually wanted to follow.

For the first time this year, he gets to blaze his own path in the field and, at the age of 15, he may be one of the youngest firefighters in the province.

Cody is from Berens River First Nation along the east side of Lake Winnipeg, about 330 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Wildfires and smoke forced members from the community in July to leave for Winnipeg and Brandon. Growing wildfires on the eastern edge of the province also forced three other nearby First Nations to evacuate — for a total of more than 2,000 residents living in hotels.

Read More: https://globalnews.ca/news/8113039/manitoba-wildfire-teen-help/