Fisheries and Land Resources
July 14, 2017

Province Providing Forest Fire Fighting Assistance to British Columbia

Six forest firefighters from Newfoundland and Labrador will be travelling to British Columbia this weekend to assist local authorities with ongoing forest fire suppression efforts in the province. They will partner with colleagues from Prince Edward Island to form a fire suppression team that will be deployed where required throughout British Columbia. It is anticipated this deployment will last two to three weeks.

The request for assistance was administered through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Mutual Aid Resource Sharing (MARS) agreement. MARS is a formal agreement between provinces that provides for the efficient sharing of forest firefighting resources throughout the country.

The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources advises adequate fire suppression resources remain in place throughout Newfoundland and Labrador to manage fires throughout the forest fire season. This includes a fleet of five strategically placed water bombers, several helicopters and an additional 80 fire suppression staff.

Quote
“Our thoughts and well-wishes are with the people of British Columbia through this difficult time as crews work around the clock to gain control of the numerous wild fires in that province. I commend our team of forest firefighters for rising to the challenge to provide support and much needed relief to their firefighting colleagues and impacted residents of British Columbia.”
Honourable Steve Crocker
Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources

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Learn More
Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre -
www.ciffc.ca/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

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Media contact
Craig Renouf
Fisheries and Land Resources
637-2284, 632-8167
craigrenouf@gov.nl.ca

2017 07 14                              10:20 a.m.