Local Forest Firefighters Supporting Other Jurisdictions

Provincial forest firefighters from the Newfoundland Forest Service continue to play an active role in supporting other jurisdictions that have required assistance in fighting forest fires throughout the summer.

“The abilities and skills of our forest firefighters are recognized throughout North America,” said the Honourable Shawn Skinner, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency. “By offering our services and forest fire specialists to others in need, we are not only providing assistance but taking advantage of a great opportunity to learn should we ever face serious situations in this province.”

A team of 16 Type 1 nationally-certified wildland forest firefighters and an agency representative from Newfoundland and Labrador recently returned from Ontario where they participated in fire suppression activities near Cat Lake in northwestern Ontario. Two CL 415 waterbombers were also in Ontario in July to assist with fire suppression efforts. The aircraft, which were stationed in Dryden, spent five days in Ontario before returning home. This team included many firefighters who were in Alberta in June where they assisted in firefighting activities near Fort McMurray.

In addition, Joe Russell, training specialist with the Forest Services Branch of the Department of Natural Resources, was recently in Macon, Georgia, as a member of the Northeast Compact’s Incident Management Team. There, he served as a Logistics Section Chief responsible for providing facilities, services, and material in support of fighting difficult forest fires

“The damp, cold summer we are experiencing has resulted in low forest fire indices,” said Minister Skinner. “While we normally see an average of 150 fires throughout the season, firefighting crews have responded to fewer than 50 so far this season. In the event of local forest fire activity, all deployed crews can be recalled to this province to fight forest fires as required.”

Newfoundland and Labrador is part the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission which offers member provinces and states the means to assist others with fires through information, technology and resource sharing. The province is also a participating member of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which coordinates the sharing of fire management resources. Resources in Canada are shared on a formal basis under the Canadian Interagency Mutual Aid Resource Sharing Agreement. Firefighting equipment, personnel, and aircraft are the three categories of resources included in this agreement among the member agencies.

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Media contact:
Heather MacLean
Director of Communications
Director of Natural Resources
709-729-5282, 697-4137
heathermaclean@gov.nl.ca 

2011 08 15                                12:10 p.m.