'It's something we will never get over': Colleagues remember firefighter killed battling B.C. wildfire

Zak Muise, 25, had worked two summers as a wildland firefighter in B.C. before signing up with Big Cat Wildfire based in Summerland in 2023.

“Nobody ever had a bad thing to say about the guy. You know, you talk about a person that was honest and hard working, and Zak was the definition of that. He was true testament of a quality of a person it takes to do this job,” said Big Cat Wildfire owner Mike Smesman.

“I was his crew leader. I had the privilege of working with him over the past couple weeks. He was a phenomenal employee. He was one of the first ones up the morning and one of the last guys to call it a day,” said Big Cat crew leader Jarad Gibbenhuck. “Not only did he just excel at it naturally, he just loved giving back. He loved the aspect of helping people and helping communities.”

Muise, who was originally from Ontario but had been living in Kelowna for several years, was excited to be deployed to the Donnie Creek wildfire in Northern B.C. in mid July.

“The whole drive up, he kept mentioning just how honoured and excited he was to get to put his mark on the Donnie Creek fire, as the fire is labeled the largest fire in our province’s history,” Gibbenhuck said.

“Zak’s biggest desire was to have this as a permanent job. He wanted his career to be in wildland firefighting,” said Smesman. “I specifically picked him for this assignment going up there, because I knew it was a large scale and I wanted to send a crew up that could do some good work and real make an impact.”

Zak Muise is pictured on the job. On Friday, July 28th, his final day of the two-week Donnie Creek deployment, Muise volunteered to get fuel for a pump. The UTV he was a passenger in went down an embankment, and despite the best efforts of his crew, he did not survive.

“It’s just a tragic loss,” said Smesman. “It’s something we will never get over. It’s hard, there is no other word to describe it.”

The loss feels personal for Smesman, who has spent most of his adult life battling wildfires. “It definitely hits home for me, I’m a crew leader for one of our own crews, and my own son is on my crew. So it’s hard when you think about it that way.”

“He was honestly one of the greatest men that I have had the honour of working next to,” said Gibbenhuck. “The love he had for life, and his every day having the biggest smile on his face no matter what the task at hand was. His appreciation for life and everyone that he cared about. He was a brother to me.”

In a statement, the Muise family said: “We are devastated by the sudden and tragic loss of our son, brother, and friend. Zak loved life and loved what he was doing. He will be missed by all who knew him.”

In Zak’s name, the family has launched an online fundraiser for the Canadian Critical Incident Stress Foundation’s Camp F.A.C.E.S. program.

The Big Cat Wildfire crew spoke to the grieving family via FaceTime.

“What a truly amazing family they are, which speaks volumes to the quality of the person that Zak was,” said Smesman. “Their primary concern was making sure we were okay, and despite everything they were going through, they just wanted to express their gratitude and their thankfulness for everything the crew did for him.”

The company will retire Muise’s call sign, Big Cat 20, and is planning a memorial service in Penticton next week. ”We definitely want to give him a hero’s send off,” said Smesman. “He deserves that.”