BC fire crews off to help in Quebec, Ontario
By Contributor
British Columbia’s Wildfire Management Branch is sending 210 personnel to Quebec and Ontario to aid those provinces with the fire activity they are experiencing.
Five 20-person unit crews, five division supervisors and three agency representatives will be leaving for Quebec, while four unit crews, three agency representatives and one incident management team will be heading to Ontario. The personnel departed May 24 from Kamloops and Prince George.
The provinces of Quebec and Ontario made the requests through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates the mutual sharing of resources between B.C. and other jurisdictions.
Costs associated with the deployment will be covered by the receiving jurisdictions under the Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement, which allows for the movement of firefighting resources throughout Canada.
Quick Facts:
- Unit crew: These firefighters are typically deployed to larger fires. The 20-person unit establishes pump and hose lines, digs fire guards and removes fuel from a wildfire’s path using back burns.
- Agency representative: Acts as the link between the deployed crews and the Wildfire Management Branch.
- Division supervisor: Supervises crews and equipment on the fireline.
- Incident Management Team: When wildfires burn for extended periods or when complex fires occur, incident management teams are called in to assume their overall management.
