By Cheryl Jahn

Province gearing up for wildfire season

Mar 19, 2019 | 4:12 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – There’s still plenty of snow on the ground, but BC’s Forests Minister was already at the Kamloops Fire Centre, outlining what measures it has put in place to meet another wildfire season head-on.

“The unprecedented fire activity posed significant operational challenges in many regions in British Columbia resulting in back-to-back provincial states of emergency for the first time in our history,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

Here are some highlights of what the Province plans:

*More than 1,600 firefighters and support staff are available for the 2019 wildfire season. Both the Northwest Fire Centre and Prince George Fire Centre are adding additional initial attack crews in remote locations. Additional national and international resources are available as needed, through mutual aid agreements.

* The BC Wildfire Service is seeking to add up to 80 additional Type 2 contract firefighters (for a total of up to 160), with the operating period for these resources increasing from 80 to 100 days. The request for proposals for additional crews closes on April 30, 2019.

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* The integration of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft has been improved to maximize efficiency. Firefighting aircraft contracts will be longer in 2019.

* The BC Wildfire Service also regularly calls on the services of contract crews to support wildfire management in British Columbia. Type 2 contract crews are used to supplement BC Wildfire Service firefighters and for sustained action support.

In the meantime, the Prince George Fire Centre is gearing up.

“Just sort of find out what’s new for this year and getting ready for the 2019 wildfire season,” explains Amanda Reynolds, Fire Information Officer for the Prince George Fire Centre.

by Cheryl Jahn

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Province gearing up for wildfire season

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