Canadian military to help B.C. wildfire fight as federal assistance approved

Emergencies minister Bill Blair said Friday that federal assistance including military resources are being mobilized to help British Columbia’s fight against hundreds of wildfires.

Blair said on Twitter that he approved a request for federal assistance to aid firefighters and emergency management personnel who are “working tirelessly” in B.C.

He added the assistance will come from across federal departments and the Canadian Armed Forces.

More than 350 wildfires are burning across the province as of Friday, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service.

Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s minister of emergency management and climate readiness, confirmed Thursday she had sent a formal request to Blair for more federal resources to help fight the fires.

She said at a briefing about drought conditions in B.C. that she had also requested 1,000 additional foreign firefighters to join 160 from Mexico and the United States already in the province.

Ma said that an “incident management team” from Australia was due to arrive on Saturday.

Firefighters from South Korea, France, South Africa and the Dominican Republic have also been fighting fires in Canada, during what is shaping up as a record-breaking fire season.

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The B.C. Wildfire Service says more than 2,000 local firefighters are currently on the ground battling the flames across the province.

Ma’s request for more international help was lodged through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates firefighting resources across the country.

Premier David Eby said earlier this week the province was looking for more firefighting support, particularly air equipment, in its battle against wildfires.

He said forecasts suggest B.C. and Canada could be facing the worst fire season in 100 years.

Eby expressed gratitude for the help provided by the firefighters from Mexico and the U.S. who are on the frontlines with provincial crews.

Blair’s announcement came a day after a 19-year-old firefighter was killed by a fallen tree while battling a wildfire near Revelstoke, B.C.

—With files from the Canadian Press