Quesnel City Council has unanimously approved a Fire Suppression Mutual Aid agreement with both the City of Williams Lake and the District of 100 Mile House.
Fire Chief Ron Richert, speaking at Tuesday (April 7) night’s Council meeting, said it was to establish a cooperative framework to provide support for each participating community when local resources are exceeded and rapid response is essential.
“An agreement would provide fire department support and response capabilities in a timely manner to ensure public safety and protect critical infrastructure. In recent years communities across the Cariboo and surrounding regions have faced increasingly frequent and severe wildfire and emergency fire events. These incidents often stretch local fire departments to the limits of their capabilities. This is especially true when multiple emergencies occur simultaneously or when fires escalate rapidly.”
Richert noted that back in July of 2024, Williams Lake faced a rapidly evolving wildfire in the river valley.
“In the initial hours of the response, the city activated its mutual aid agreements, receiving support from 150 Mile House Volunteer Fire Department, the Wildwood Fire Department. However, due to the scale and potential risk of the incident, additional qualified resources were urgently required.”
Richert said that an agreement like this would have helped back then.
“While nearby fire departments in Quesnel and 100 Mile House were willing and able to assist, their deployment had to be coordinated through pre-established provincial response protocols and a provincial task number. This introduced delays that hindered the response and critical resources at the time, when every minute mattered.”
Richert said that these types of agreements have already been established in the Okanagan valley between fire departments and have proven to be successful.
