BC, federal officials to discuss wildfire response, military deployed to assess
A task force made up of members of Public Safety Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces and British Columbia disaster response and wildfire officials will meet today as hundreds of fires burn across the province.
A statement from BC’s Ministry of Emergency Management says the meeting will focus on plans for deploying federal resources after the province appealed for help in the fight.
It says two military reconnaissance teams were deployed on Sunday, with an “Army Team” arriving at the Department’s Emergency Operations Center in Prince George and an Air Force team heading to the BC Wildfire Coordination Center in Kamloops.
The ministry says the teams are conducting assessments that will inform implementation plans for future federal resources.
Fire crews from the United States, Mexico and New Zealand are also in the province and teams are expected to arrive from Australia this weekend.
There are approximately 380 fires burning throughout BC, with more than 20 considered highly visible, threatening, or potentially damaging “wildfires of concern.”
Many of those fires, along with more than 70 wildfire-related evacuation warnings and orders, are clustered in parts of BC’s central interior.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 17, 2023.
