As a military corporal trained in firefighting, having served duty tours in Afghanistan and Africa with the Canadian Forces, Scott Scholten had more than a decade of experience in dealing with emergencies when the call went out one foggy day in Resolute Bay, Nunavut.
On Aug. 20, 2011, a First Air Boeing 737 jet with 16 people on board arriving from Yellowknife crashed in the mountainous terrain surrounding the airport and Scholten was sent with his military firefighting unit as a first responder.
They got as far they could with the airport's fire vehicles, then had to set off on foot with extinguishers and first-aid kits to make it to the scene, 800 metres away. The jet had broken into three distinct pieces on impact and as he scanned the still-burning wreckage, Scholten heard the cries of a group of two adults and one child, the only survivors of a crash that took the lives of 13 people. Scholten offered first aid to the injured passengers while waiting for medical crews to arrive by helicopter.
"We were called out for a warning when the tower lost contact with the aircraft and initially we hoped it was a training exercise," said Scholten, a 42-year-old native of Prince George.
"We hiked through dense fog and rain with our survival packs and some of our firefighting gear and we came across the aircraft and heard a few voices. They made it out of the aircraft and were just on the ground away from where the initial fire was. We directly went to those persons and called in air support and the medical response and then went through our searches."
Scholten and his military unit were not alone when the plane went down. Fortunately, there were 700 Canadian military personnel already in the area taking part in Operation Nanook, a major air disaster military exercise, part of a longterm mission to protect Canada's sovereignty in the eastern Arctic.
"It was very fortunate the whole of the military was there," said Scholten. "It was very professional, very co-ordinated, with a lot of compassion taken for the local community dealing with people. We have the best of training facilities and the best persons who are incorporated for teaching and it's just something you're prepared for and never hope comes. But when it does happen, you trust in your fellow firefighters and go through your duties."
Scholten's professional actions as a soldier during his two-and-a-half-month posting at Resolute Bay will be recognized today in a ceremony in Ottawa when he receives the Meritorious Service Medal.
Scholten assisted RCMP with the recovery of the bodies from the wreckage and identifying the victims. Parts of the plane had to cut to retrieve components like the flight data recorder used by Transport Canada for their investigation and Scholten used battery-powered machinery that he hauled down a ravine to the site, speeding up the efficiency and safety of the retrieval process. The grinders he used to cut through the fuselage generated showers of sparks and Scholten was aware of the risks involved, equipping himself with self-contained breathing apparatus.
"Transport Canada had done a lot of the extrication themselves," said Scholten. "There was still fuel aboard and the potential [it would ignite], but we had our protective equipment and masks to do the job."
Raised by his parents Darlene and Rudy (who died last year), Scholten grew up in Prince George where he excelled in sports, especially hockey and lacrosse. He played rep hockey for years as a defenceman and made it as far as the Saskatchewan Junior (A) Hockey League, playing as an 18-year-old in the 1986-87 season for the Lloydminster Lancers before a knee injury cut short his playing career.
Having worked in Prince George as an apprentice carpenter before he joined the military 12 years ago, Scholten used his building skills to construct a playground at the school during his term at Resolute Bay. That volunteer project, which he led, also weighed in his selection for the meritorious service award.
"It's an honour bringing honour to the Canadian military -- basically it's for going above and beyond what the military asks of a soldier," said Scholten, from his home in Halifax.
"It's not just about the air crash that happened and the response from our military unit, it's also about incorporating yourself into the community and serving Canadians."
