British Columbia is sending an additional 74 forest fire personnel to Ontario to assist with a continuing increase in fire activity.

One incident management team, 11 initial attack crews and 20 single resources will depart today, bringing the total number to 533 B.C. personnel working in Ontario.

British Columbia is experiencing the slowest fire season start in the last decade, allowing the Wildfire Management Branch to lend over 1,500 personnel to other provinces so far this year.

Costs for a deployment will be covered by the Ontario government under the Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement, which allows sharing of firefighting resources across Canada. Sufficient crews will remain in B.C. should fire activity increase. The Wildfire Management Branch always maintains adequate firefighting capacity to respond to current conditions.

Report a wildfire or unattended campfire by calling *5555 on your cellphone or toll-free to

1 800 663-5555.

For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, go to: http://www.bcforestfireinfo.gov.bc.ca

You can also follow the latest wildfire news -

• On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/BCGovFireInfo
• On Facebook at: http://facebook.com/BCForestFireInfo

Contact:

Alyson Couch
Provincial Information Officer
Wildfire Management Branch
250 312-3051