Forests
VICTORIA - Almost 100 B.C. Wildfire Management Branch personnel depart for Ontario as fire activity levels remain high in that province.
"Yesterday we welcomed home 99 firefighting personnel, and today we say 'good luck and stay safe' to this ninth round of folks as they leave for Ontario," said Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson. "We are happy to continue lending a hand to other provinces, but we always make sure that there are enough people in B.C. to manage our own wildfire situation."
The changeover of crews includes five unit crews and one agency representative, totalling 98 personnel. Today, the total number of Wildfire Management Branch staff in Ontario is 222.
Since the fires started in Ontario, B.C. has sent 855 personnel to assist them with a challenging fire season. This is B.C.'s slowest fire season start in the last decade, allowing the Wildfire Management Branch to send a record number of forest firefighting resources to other jurisdictions.
The Wildfire Management Branch always maintains adequate firefighting personnel to respond to conditions in B.C. Personnel can be deployed for up to 19 days, and can be recalled at any time should conditions in B.C. change.
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
Media Contact:
Radha Fisher
Fire Information Officer
Wildfire Management Branch
250 312-3051
