Photo courtesy Canadian Press

By Greg Fry with files from Canadian Press

Help on the way

Prince George Fire Centre sending resources to help fight fires in Okanagan

Aug 20, 2020 | 1:01 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — With a quiet wildfire season up north, Prince George Fire Centre personnel are heading south to help out fire crews in the Okanagan.

A fire south of Penticton on the east side of Skaha Lake has already destroyed one home. Residents have been ordered to evacuate 319 properties in the path of the fire and evacuation alerts have been issued for thousands more.

The BC Wildfire Service says two other lightning caused fires continue to cause trouble. That incudes the Doctor Creek fire near Canal Flats.

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“So, we did have a request come in for three of our unit crews. So, two of them got down to the Kamloops Fire Centre and one has gone to the Southeast Fire Centre to help as well as four parattack crews,” says Fire Information Officer Rachelle Winsor

She says the three unit crews consists of 20 people per unit crew and the parattack crews consist of another 12 people as well.

Since April 1, Winsor says the Prince George Fire Centre has seen just 53 fires for a total of 254 hectares burned.

At this time last year she says we had 128 fires for a total of 7,500 hectares burned.

Historically, she says we usually see around 300 fires by this time, and it’s usually around 77000 hectares burned.