British Columbia is sending additional firefighters, plus management specialists and air resources, to help attack raging wildfires in northern Alberta.

Ten 20-person unit crews, one 23-person incident management team, two helicopter co-ordinators, two agency representatives and two air tanker groups will be deployed today and tomorrow. The crews will be temporarily based in Hinton, where they'll be debriefed by Alberta officials, then assigned to specific fires.

Today's group is in addition to nearly 130 wildland firefighters that travelled to Hinton yesterday at the request of Alberta's Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development. More resources may be made available. However, British Columbia will retain enough firefighting personnel and equipment to respond to changing conditions here. Currently, the fire danger rating for most of B.C. is very low to moderate.

Quote:

Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations -

"The devastation around Slave Lake and outlying communities is a graphic reminder of what wildfires can do. I urge British Columbians to educate themselves on how to prevent wildfires and consider their own preparedness in case of an emergency."

Quick Facts:

* B.C. has 27 highly-trained unit crews, which are typically deployed to larger fires. Unit crews are highly mobile, and establish pump and hose lines, dig fire guards and remove fuel from a wildfire's path using back burns.

* When wildfires burn for extended periods, or when complex fires occur, incident management teams are called in to assume their overall management.

* The two air tanker groups being deployed to Alberta consist of three air tankers and two "bird dog" aircraft.

Learn More:

B.C.'s Wildfire Management Branch is internationally recognized for its expertise, highly-trained personnel and innovative use of technology. Learn more about the province's team: http://bcwildfire.ca/AboutUs/

You can also follow the latest B.C. wildfire news -

On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo

On Facebook at: http://facebook.com/BCForestFireInfo

Contact:

Cheekwan Ho

Government Communications and Public Engagement

Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations

250 356-5261

Kim Steinbart

Provincial Fire Information Officer

Wildfire Management Branch

Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations 250 312-3051

Connect with the Province of B.C. at: www.gov.bc.ca/connect