The pilot and co-pilot of a water bomber that crashed near Lytton on Saturday night as firefighters battled a major blaze are presumed dead, says the company that owned the airplane.
The bomber, a Convair 580 owned by Abbotsford-based Conair, went down just before 9 p.m. Saturday night outside the town of Lytton, about 260 kilometres upstream the Fraser River from Vancouver.
Despite multiple attempts rescue teams have yet to reach the wreckage due to the intense fire, one of more than 300 wildfires burning across British Columbia, according to the Joint Rescue Co-Ordination Centre in Victoria.
However, Conair spokesman Rick Pedersen said Sunday morning the two pilots are presumed dead.
“It’s not confirmed yet, but we’ve been advised that no survivors are expected,” Pedersen said.
He said Conair employs a fleet of 50 aircraft around Western Canada, and that this was their first fatal accident in nearly 20 years.
A release from the RCMP said the names have not been released, pending notification the victims’ families. Teams from both the police force and the Transportation Safety Board have been dispatched to the scene to investigate the crash once the flames have abated.
"Our thoughts are with the affected families, it is difficult to truly express the deep sense of appreciation that all of us here in B.C. have for those who dedicate their lives to the preservation of our well being, fire season after fire season," said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk in the statement.
The fire around Jackass Mountain is one of 353 burning across British Columbia, 150 of which have erupted in the past three days, according to the B.C. government’s Wildfire Management Branch.
Multiple rescue attempts were made Saturday night, before being suspended until this morning because the fire was too intense, according to the Joint Rescue Co-Ordination Centre.
The crash comes as the B.C. Forest Fire Service is battling fires across the province.
On Friday alone 64 new fires were sparked, 10 of them by people, the rest by lightning. These fires have burned a total of 59,781 hectares.
Firefighters and fire specialists from Alberta and Ontario started to arrive Sunday morning to help B.C. fire crews battle the most fire-plagued areas in the province.
Two hundred and thirty firefighters and fire specialists as well as aircraft from those two provinces were to arrive to assist in containing the blazes in the Cariboo and Kamloops regions.
Forty kilometres south of Williams Lake the 1,800 hectare Dog Creek fire continues to be the biggest challenge in the Cariboo region. An evacuation order and alert remains in effect for residents within the area, however fire crews have built a guard around a large portion of the fire.
The largest fire in the area is near Pelican Lake where about 2,500 hectares have burned. Evacuation notices have also been issued in the sparsely populated area.
Meanwhile, Kamloops is under smoky skies thanks to southerly winds pushing smoke down from the Cariboo region.
An expanded evacuation alert has been put in place for the Yalakom Valley as the Jade wildfire continues to burn. The blaze has reached 1248 hectares, but only 15 per cent has been contained.
Meanwhile, little growth was noted for the 130-hectare Mason Lake wildfire, formerly known as Bonaparte Lake. 110 personnel, including 80 firefighters, 7 helicopters and 11 heavy equipment have been deployed on scene. An evacuation alert for the west side of the lake was rescinded on Friday, but an evacuation order is still in place for the east side.
With files from the Vancouver Sun
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