BC is sending 130+ more firefighters to assist in Alberta and Yukon wildfires

On Monday and Tuesday, the BC Wildfire Service is sending over 100 additional firefighters to Alberta and the Yukon to help local authorities fight wildfires in the provinces.

In total, 137 personnel will be deployed to BC’s neighbours, with most of them heading to Alberta.

See also:

• BC invests $101 million to prepare for upcoming wildfire season
• Province invests nearly $300K into Vancouver Island wildfire reduction funding

BC is sending 116 firefighters (six unit crews) to Alberta and one 21-person incident management team to support the province’s “increasingly challenging wildfire situation”.

Meanwhile, a total of 7 Wildfire Service personnel (two initial attack crews and one fire camp manager) will be deployed to the Yukon to help prepare for upcoming forest fire threats.

In late May, BC sent a total of 267 wildfire personnel to Alberta to assist with wildfires in the province. This initial crew is expected to return to BC between June 6th and 8th.

The requests for assistance came through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which coordinates the sharing of firefighting resources between provinces. All costs are covered by the jurisdiction that requested aid.

“The BC Wildfire Service recognizes the importance of sharing firefighting resources given the invaluable assistance that both Alberta and the Yukon provided to B.C. during the last two wildfire seasons, which were the worst in the province’s history,” said Fire Information Officer Kyla Fraser, in a statement.