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OUR HOMETOWN: Matt Lees enjoys working and living in Williams Lake

At the suggestion of his best friend at the time, Matt Lees applied to work at the Cariboo Fire Centre when he was 18 and was hired on for the summer as a firefighter.
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At the suggestion of his best friend at the time, Matt Lees applied to work at the Cariboo Fire Centre when he was 18 and was hired on for the summer as a firefighter.

It was not a career he’d ever thought of pursuing, yet 16 years later he is still there and loves his job as a wildfire prevention officer.

“When I was 28 I went back to school and got my forestry diploma at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George,”he said. “Right after I graduated I got a full-time job at the fire centre.”

His first post was as a wildfire officer in Alexis Creek.

A portion of his job is dedicated to fuel management and involves signing off on fuel prescriptions. He does that year-round and is still involved with wildfire and is on the firefighter roster.

“I love going to work,” he said. “It’s a good mix of wildfire and forestry work. It’s almost like having two jobs.”

One of the bigs things for him is the people he works with and the working environment.

Also having new crews come in every year reinvigorates him and makes him feel younger, he said.

“You have all these people running around with good attitudes. We hire really well. I think that’s a huge benefit.”

During the winter months it can get gloomy up at the fire centre so when spring arrives it jump starts him again.

Since he started working at the Cariboo Fire Centre he has seen changes.

Before the wildfires in 2017, there was a fuel management program, but after the fires there was a big uplift in funding and that program has taken off in the Cariboo Chilcotin.

Recently they have been trying to get the prescribed fire program running more consistently, he added.

“We’ve always had it on the side of our desk but now we actually have designated positions.”

When asked how his lungs are he said he has not had any issues yet.

“We’ve come a long way. Back in the day you used to fight fire in the smoke quite a bit but we’ve gotten a little smarter about that although it is hard to avoid.”

Born in Williams Lake to Marlene and Scott Lees, the 34-year-old has three brothers.

The family lived at Esler and he attended Chilcotin Road Elementary and Columneetza schools.

Growing up he played hockey and baseball, but became more serious with hockey in his teens.

“When I was 16, I played in Prince George, moved to the Island when I was 17 to play Junior B, moved back to Williams Lake when I was 18 to play for the Timberwolves when they were here and two years in Prince George for the Spruce Kings,” he said.

Eventually he joined the Williams Lake Stampeders men’s hockey team when he was 20 and stayed for 12 years, helping the team win a couple Coy Cups.

“I played with a lot of my good friends like Willie Sellars and the Zuraks. Juniors was different, but playing for the Stampeders was some of the funnest hockey I played. Because we didn’t have a junior team here we always had good crowds, especially for the Coy Cup.”

Two years ago he stopped because his sons Cory, 10, and Carson, 7, were playing lots of hockey and he helps coach when he can. He said the hockey program is strong in Williams Lake and he enjoys that for his sons who also both play in the spring league.

Playing at the 2022 alumni game with the Stamps was fun.

“I’m getting older and slower than I used to be but it was fun to play against the current team. Nathan Zurak and I played on the same line for almost my whole time with the Stamps so it was kind of cool to play with him again in the alumni game.”

Playing against Willie Sellars was fun too, he quipped.

Matt was married last summer to Jacki, a maternity nurse at Cariboo Memorial Hospital who he met five years ago. They are expecting a baby boy in June.

Parenting takes up most of his free time, he responded when asked about pastimes, adding his parents have a cabin on Chimney Lake so they spend time there when they can as well as at Jacki’s parents’ cabin near Kamloops.

The Cariboo Chilcotin continues to be a great place to work and live, he said.

“I love the forest type here. It’s pretty diverse how you can go to the pine flats in the Chilcotin and basically a coastal fuel type in the Quesnel Lake area.”

While he moved away to play hockey and go to school he was always happy to return to his hometown.

“I think another big factor is not only do I like living here but I also really enjoy working at the fire centre,” he said of why he’s stayed.

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monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com

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Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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