KABUL — The Canadian Forces in Afghanistan lack proper firefighting equipment, and military brass don't seem to understand the need for it, the civilian deputy fire chief at Camp Julien said Thursday.

Gary Lovett said he has grown frustrated by what appears to be bureaucratic confusion in trying to get proper gear for the main Canadian military base in Kabul. The former Washington, D.C., firefighter, who now works for SNC-Lavalin PAE, a group of companies based in Los Angeles, said the Canadian military needs a fire truck or at least a heavy-duty pickup truck that can be fitted with the proper equipment.

His crew of five firefighters has been told it could get that equipment as early as next week, but delivery plans have fallen through several times before.

"We have been promised a very neat package, what they call the Gator package," said Lovett.

However, Capt. Dave Parker, the officer in charge of preparing Camp Julien, said the firefighting equipment isn't high on the military's "to-do" list.

"You have to understand that everything that's brought into country is flown in, and there are priorities," said Parker.

"Right now, some of our armoured vehicles and other mission critical equipment has superseded some things like foam packages for the Gators."

The Gator was developed by the United States military for quick response in rough terrain for downed helicopters. It uses a high-pressure pump with a foam-water solution that Lovett describes as "incredible."

Lovett said he is concerned soldiers' lives could be at risk, especially if the base was shelled or if a fire was started during a wind storm.

"That is one of my worst nightmares, that we have a northeaster come through and one of the tents catches on fire," Lovett said.

"It's gonna go from tent to tent to tent like a forest fire would."
Parker acknowledged the camp should have the equipment it needs to fight a large blaze.

"We should have that firefighting capability here," he said.
Still, he discounted Lovett's concerns, pointing to the many other ways of dealing with fires.

"We have workarounds," said Parker. "We have water reservoirs, we have various other pumps, we have quick-connects at our ablution centres and we can fight any fire that would break out here."

"With the containment we have using blast walls, we can limit (a fire) to about a 100-square-metre area."

As well, practically every tent or building in the camp is outfitted with fire extinguishers.

But Lovett said the military's backup plan for fighting a major fire isn't much of a plan.

"We have the ability to call in the 'Z' and have them bulldoze a firebreak right through the middle of the tent city," he said with sarcasm in his voice.

The 30-tonne German-made Zettelmeyer, or Z, is a military version of a front-end loader - the same kind that struck a mine late last month while troops were on patrol on the edge of Kabul.

"That's the fallback position if there's multiple hits by rockets and there's a major conflagration," said Lovett.

"They'll just start bulldozing down, like the old days out in the woods where you'd cut the strings on a tent and shovel dirt on the burning canvas."

Lovett called it all "terribly frustrating."

The 23-year veteran of District of Columbia Fire Department professed that he and the other members of the fire department are more than willing to "put it on the line" to protect the camp at all costs.

"But if we just had the tools of our trade, then we could do it," Lovett said.

"You don't send a LAV (light armoured vehicle) out to do an op without ammunition, so why have a fire department without the proper equipment?"