Manitoba firefighters joining battle against inferno

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This article was published 11/07/2017 (3305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A dozen Manitoba firefighters are heading to Prince George this week to help British Columbia fight more than 200 wildfires.

More may follow — and by next week, there could be requests for equipment, including water bombers.

The battle against forest fires anywhere in Canada is co-ordinated on Ellice Avenue in the West End — in the operations centre of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

“We act as the resource brokers, we co-ordinate that response,” CIFFC media spokesman Dave Dokovay said Monday.

The request from B.C. for reinforcements was passed on to Manitoba Sustainable Development Monday afternoon, Dokovay said.

“They’re going to provide us with three initial ground attack crews. They’ll be heading to Prince George later this week,” he said. “They’re experienced firefighters.”

Manitoba is sending a dozen firefighters, who’ll spend 14 straight days on the front lines.

Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario have responded to CIFFC’s requests for help so far, and as of Monday there were enough water bombers in the B.C. interior, Dokovay said.

“We have no open requests for (water bomber) tankers,” he said, but cautioned that the wildfires won’t be brought under control any time soon. “We expect this will continue next week.”

Earlier Monday, an official with Sustainable Development said the province had watched for a call for help throughout the weekend.

“Manitoba is supportive of response efforts and is currently assessing what resources could be made available to assist with these efforts while still providing the necessary protection here,” said the official, speaking anonymously.

Jordan Turner, a communications officer with B.C.’s Ministry of Emergency Preparedness, said Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario are already helping.

“The request goes out to the CIFFC,” he said. “We say, we need these many water bombers and these many crews. The provinces say what they can do. Sometimes it’s who puts up their hand first.”

Turner could not say if B.C. is at the point where it will request additional help from other provinces or from the United States. He emphasized the CIFFC asks other provinces to help — B.C. does not directly ask other jurisdictions.

Manitoba has helped other provinces in the past, and worked alongside Ontario crews a year ago fighting wildfires in the Whiteshell that jumped the border.

“Last summer, the province responded to a request for assistance in Fort McMurray by sending heavy equipment specialists and Manitoba’s Office of the Fire Commissioner deployed a group from the Urban Search and Rescue team CAN-TF4,” the sustainable development official said.

Dokovay said B.C. will pay the costs of the Manitoba contingent, as Manitoba pays when help is sent here.

“It’s a reciprocal arrangement,” he said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca