ANSWERING THE CALL FOR HELP
Specialists, air tankers, pumps, hoses being deployed to help tackle wildfires
Saskatchewan is deploying firefighters and equipment to help battle wildfires raging in central British Columbia. Firefighters will be sent in two-week increments.
As more than 230 wildfires rage on in central B.C. — initiating a state of emergency there — Saskatchewan has responded to requests for help.
According to Steven Roberts, executive director of the Wildfire Management Branch for Saskatchewan, the province has already sent two CV-580 air tankers and a Bird Dog guide aircraft, which are currently stationed in Abbotsford, B.C.
On Sunday, wildfire investigation specialists were sent to B.C. to help determine the causes of some of the larger fires, and 50 firefighting pumps and 2,000 lengths of firefighting hose were sent to a warehouse in Chilliwack, B.C. on Monday morning. The province is also preparing to send 20 firefighters and 16 wildfire specialist personnel to Kamloops, B.C. on Tuesday.
“Part of the specialists that will be going to B.C. will be what’s called an Incident Command Team, and they are specially trained to look after large fires,” said Roberts. The team will be assigned one of the larger fires, helping alongside firefighters from various locations.
Roberts said firefighters are being pulled from everywhere across the province based on their skill set — anywhere from Buffalo Narrows to Stony Rapids and the Hudson Bay area — and will be deployed in two-week increments. Once a team’s two weeks are up, the B.C. government can request a replacement team if needed.
For the Saskatchewan crew, fighting fires will look a little different over in B.C., given the steeper slopes, different vegetation and a drier landscape. Wetlands like bogs and fens in northern Saskatchewan call for a different style of fighting fires, but Roberts said firefighters are trained the same all across the country, which allows them to go anywhere there is need.
Roberts offered assurances that the resources heading to B.C. are not taking away from any need here in Saskatchewan, since wildfire risk is low at the moment.
“It isn’t going to hamper us, simply because of the conditions that exist presently,” said Roberts.
If the situation changes, the aircraft are operating under a 48hour recall. It means that if Saskatchewan suddenly needs them, they will return within 48 hours of being asked to do so.
Resources are being deployed as they are requested, and the costs associated with them will be paid back by the B.C. government and subsequently reimbursed to the province of Saskatchewan. Roberts said all requests for resources have been met so far.
“They may request additional resources and if Saskatchewan can meet those, we’ll be trying to assist them,” said Roberts.
Resources from the national level are also making their way to B.C. The Public Health Agency of Canada has already sent 3,000 cots and 3,000 blankets from the national emergency supplies stockpile to help with evacuees, and air assets and personnel from the Canadian Arms Forces have been deployed.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, who spoke at a news conference in Regina on Monday, assured the public that “the government of Canada will respond to every request that we get from the province of British Columbia.” He said all requests for resources from B.C. so far have been fulfilled by the federal government.
More than 10,000 people have been evacuated so far, and more than a thousand firefighters are on the ground in B.C. battling the blazes, with another 300 on their way, according to Goodale.