British Columbia is sending an additional 120 wildfire management personnel to Ontario to assist with firefighting efforts.

Five 20-person unit crews and one Type 1 incident management team will depart for Thunder Bay and Dryden tomorrow, for a total deployment of 227 people since Monday.

Crews will be in Ontario for up to 19 days, but can be recalled at any time if B.C.'s wildfire situation changes. Sufficient personnel have been retained to manage current firefighting needs. Costs for the deployment will be covered by the Ontario government.

Quick Facts:

• Crews for the Ontario deployment are being supplied by five of B.C.'s six fire centres: Kamloops, Prince George, Southeast, Coastal and Cariboo.
• When wildfires burn for extended periods, or when complex fires occur, incident management teams are called in to assume their overall management.
• Unit crews are highly mobile and typically deployed to larger fires. They establish pump and hose lines, dig fire guards and remove fuel from a wildfire's path using back burns.

Learn More:

For the latest information on fire activity, conditions and prohibitions in B.C., visit www.bcforestfireinfo.gov.bc.ca.

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:

Fionna Tollovsen
Provincial Fire Information Officer
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
250 312-3051