VICTORIA – British Columbia’s first Medal of Good Citizenship was handed out Tuesday by the premier but the recipient wasn’t able to accept it.
John Phare, 60, died this past summer while falling trees to help fight a wildfire on the Sunshine Coast.
The medal was presented to Phare’s fiancee.
“This word hero is something that’s been used and I know he would really feel uncomfortable with that,” says Kimi Hawkes. “I don’t think he thought of himself as a hero. He thought of himself as a person who was part of the community and did what has to get done, along with all the other people who were fighting that fire with him.”
The medal presentation came as Christy Clark publicly thanked the people of the Wildfire Service for their work during a tough and expensive forest fire season.
“British Columbia owes a debt to BC Wildfire Service staff and crews for all the long hours, dedication and bravery they showed during the 2015 fire season. They kept a lot of people safe and prevented a lot of families from losing their homes,” says Clark.
As of Monday, the government has spent $277,908,183 fighting wildfires which have burned 304,649 hectares.
Of the 1,823 fires in the province, 573 were human-caused.
Comments