British Columbia is sending 16 firefighting personnel to central Alberta, to assist that province with an increase in fire activity.

Five three-person initial attack crews and one agency representative will arrive in Calgary, Alberta, today where they will be briefed by Alberta officials, and then assigned to where the need is greatest.

These crews are being deployed from the Kamloops and Southeast Fire Centres, where minimal fire activity has allowed the release of personnel.

Costs for a deployment are covered by the Alberta government under the Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement, which allows for the movement of firefighting resources across Canada.

B.C. has recovered approximately $25 million from sending 2,051 personnel out-of-province this past fire season.

The Wildfire Management Branch always maintains adequate firefighting capacity to respond to current conditions. The fire danger rating for most of B.C. is very low to moderate, with some pockets of high in the Peace and southern regions.

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