BC wants 1,000 more international firefighters to participate in Wildfire Battle

British Columbia has asked for an additional 1,000 international firefighters to join the fight against the province’s wildfires.

Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says she has also spoken with her Ottawa counterpart, Bill Blair, about making more federal resources available to help fight the region’s approximately 350 fires. BC.

Ma says a team from Australia will arrive on Saturday, in addition to the 160 international staff from Mexico and the United States currently in BC.

Firefighters from South Korea, France, South Africa and the Dominican Republic have also been battling fires in Canada during what is shaping up to be a record-breaking fire season.

Ma says the Australians are an ‘incident management team’ on the way.

Federal Emergency Preparedness Secretary Blair had previously said he expected a “reasonably substantive” request for help from BC. as wildfires get worse.

Blair told The Canadian Press that the government’s operations center has been in talks with the province for the past few days and that Ottawa is ready to deploy the necessary resources.

“The fire season is obviously getting pretty serious now and they’ve sent us an indication of some additional resources they’re going to need,” he said in an interview Thursday.

“For the past 48 hours we have been working with Canadian Armed Forces, Parks Canada, Natural Resources Canada and people from the Canadian Coast Guard,” said Blair. “There are many different federal departments all mobilizing their response to British Columbia’s demands.”

He said the federal aid could include military aid for airlift evacuations from remote locations, as well as members of the military trained as firefighters who can provide “cleanup” to prevent fires from reigniting once extinguished.

“If there are communities that become isolated and need to be evacuated, the Canadian military will provide those resources,” Blair said.

The Canadian Coast Guard is also mobilizing support for affected coastal communities, and Natural Resources Canada employees with forest management expertise are also preparing to help, he said.

Blair adds that there are a number of national parks BC., so Parks Canada is ready to help the province with park firefighters and forest management experts.

says Blair BC. is one of the better equipped provinces to fight fires as it is often one of the hardest hit provinces, but any extra help needed is being made available.

Ma’s request for more international aid was made through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, which coordinates firefighting resources across the country.

Prime Minister David Eby said earlier this week that the province was looking for more firefighting support, particularly aerial equipment, to fight bushfires.

He said predictions suggest BC. and Canada are experiencing the worst fire season in 100 years.

Eby expressed gratitude for the assistance of international firefighters from Mexico and the United States who are on the front lines with provincial crews.

There are more than 350 wildfires burning in every corner of the county, and the BC Wildfire Service is warning that another heat wave in many areas could put even more strain on already overworked crews.

The wildfire department says a 300-square-mile, week-old fire near Highway 37, just south of the Yukon border, has been calm, but it and similar fires in the north BC. could flare up during the next few days of expected warm weather.