Province requests Federal assistance in Wildfire fights

As the WildFire dangers continue to grow across BC
the Provincial government has called on the Federal
Government for some assistance

With the Province of British Columbia facing a growing list of wildfires to contend with heading towards mid August, the provincial government has requested assistance from the Federal Government as crews continue with their firefighting efforts.

The request was issued today by Mike Farrnworth,  Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety who outlined what led the province to make its request.

“This is an urgent situation, and the safety of British Columbians is our highest priority,”  ...“Due to the increase in the number of wildfires affecting communities and the extreme wildfire behaviour we are seeing, we’re asking for federal assistance for additional resources that may be needed to protect the public, property and infrastructure.”

The Province's request list includes:

Two hundred self-sufficient personnel to perform the mop-up and patrol of contained fires, under the supervision of the BC Wildfire Service. The BC Wildfire Service will provide the required personal protective equipment, firefighting equipment and incremental training as required for these tasks. 

Heavy-lift aircraft to reposition wildfire crews and equipment to new fire starts that threaten communities. These aircraft will assist with the resupply of existing operations (fire camps, air bases, etc.), which will permit BC Wildfire Service aircraft to be directed to the firefighting effort from resupply tasks. 

Aircraft for emergency transport of injured personnel and to help evacuate people in remote areas, should evacuation routes be compromised.

Doug Donaldson, the Minister of Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development also commented on the provincial request and how the province will use it.

“We’re bringing in the additional resources we need to keep people and communities as safe as possible,” ... “I thank the federal government and the Canadian Armed Forces for their assistance, and also ask British Columbians to do their part by following burning bans to prevent human-caused fires.”

More on today's request by the Province can be reviewed here.

As of today, the BC Wildfire Service had listed 27 evacuation orders, that were affecting approximately 31,00 people, in addition to evacuation alerts that had impacted on 17,900 people in British Columbia.

The Northwest has been the focus for much of the Wildfire efforts, with the Telegraph Creek area among the hardest hit in the region.

That fire has been estimated at 31,100.0 hectares and is still listed as active, though some significant progress in the fight has been found by those on the ground over the course of the last forty eight hours.

You can review the latest update here.

For more notes on the Wildfires of Northwest BC this summer see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review