All available crews have been committed to fight against British Columbia’s burning forests, a situation that has forced officials to triage call in reinforcements from as far away as Australia. Source: The Star (Can)
This week 184 fires were burning across British Columbia, engaging more than 1000 personnel and triggering evacuation orders and alerts, as well as air-quality advisories.
Kurtisfeld of the BC Wildfire Service said 23 of those fires had broken out Monday and the ministry predicts 30 new wildfires will start every day as dry conditions grow more acute.
“The availability of resources is at a critical level, and any significant increase in fire load will be difficult for us to manage,” he said.
“As such, we’ve begun prioritizing fires based on human life and safety, property, critical values, critical habitat and timber, and before any of those the safety of our responders will come first and foremost.”
He said all the service’s available crews are engaged around the province, including 622 contractors.
The government had already spent more than $Can90 million this season fighting the fires, well over the $Can63 million set aside in the budget.
Forests Minister Steve Thomson said 70 firefighters from Ontario were expected to arrive in BC, and the province will be getting help from Australian crews, while firefighters from New Zealand will likely head to Alberta.
Thomson said he didn’t have specific numbers of how many firefighters would be coming from Australia and New Zealand.
“Western Canada is incredibly active right now and we’ve certainly got a pretty dynamic situation here but it pales in comparison to what’s going on in Saskatchewan in terms of their evacuations,” said fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek.
About 9000 people have been forced from their homes in more than 50 communities in the northern part of that province.
Emergency officials say a large wildfire threatening one of the biggest communities in the north was stable, but they feared a shift in wind could change the situation.
The blaze, which had come within two kilometres of La Ronge, a town of 2700 people, was one of hundreds burning across Western Canada.
Six hundred soldiers from Edmonton have joined the fire fight in Saskatchewan. Of those, 360 were to complete a condensed day of training before going to work on fire lines. Another 500 troops were ready to be called in if needed.
“They’re just getting this one day quick refresher course to make sure when they’re out and in the fire zone they are operating safely,” Defence Minister Jason Kenney said.
