Nova Scotia Sends Natural Resources Firefighters to British Columbia

The Department of Natural Resources has sent 24 staff to Kamloops, B.C. to help control and extinguish some of the numerous forest fires burning throughout the province.

Three safety officers, a sustained action crew of 20 wildland firefighters and an agency representative are making the trip to British Columbia.

"We understand that the fire situation in British Columbia is extreme and we will help in any way we can," said Natural Resources Minister John MacDonell. "Our province has many trained personnel with wildfire expertise and we will lend our skills and knowledge in hopes of making an impact on the hazardous conditions being experienced in the west."

The Nova Scotia wildfire crews are expected to be on the ground for up to 19 days, depending on weather conditions. The low level of fire concern across Nova Scotia allows resources to be lent to provinces in greater need.

The request for additional resources came through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, an organization that co-ordinates wildland fire-control services around the country. Nova Scotia is a member of its Canadian Mutual Aid Resource Sharing Agreement, established in the early 1980s to ensure all provinces and territories will receive help if forest fires becomes too big for them to handle.