More than 200 BC firefighters and related personnel are heading to the United States to help battle extreme fire activity in Oregon.
We asked Forrest Tower, Fire Information Officer with BC Wildfire Service if any members from the Cariboo Fire Centre will be heading south
“BC WildFire Service will be sending 23 personnel from the Cariboo Fire Centre. So we have a Unit Crew which is comprised of 20 firefighters and then 3 other additional support staff that will be doing various supervisory roles once down in Oregon”.
BC WildFire Service personnel will remain within their own “bubble” and conduct their firefighting operations separately from American firefighters, as co-ordinated by the U.S. Forest Service and other relevant authorities.
Tower said the crews will be deployed for 19 days and added that all crews they send to the U.S. on their return to the province will be required to quarantine or self-isolate for 14-days.
The firefighters will be in Chilliwack today where they’ll be briefed by the various personnel before all heading down to Oregon, driving their own trucks with their own tools.