First cycle of B.C. wildfire crews to return from Alberta

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Firefighters from British Columbia sent last month to help crews in Alberta battle wildfires will soon be on their way home.

Information Officer Kyla Fraser says 267 members of the crew are set to wrap up their work Tuesday and will be heading west on Wednesday and Thursday.

She explains they can be gone for a maximum of 19 days, and other crews are replacing them.

“We have a total of 137 personnel that are already in Alberta, that was 116 firefighters and one 21-person incident management team,” and she says more have been set to arrive today.

The Alberta deployment included six unit crews, or groups of 20 firefighters, who typically work on large fires and who can remain self-sufficient in the field for up to three days.

RELATED: Northern Alberta residents start returning home after two-week evacuation due to fire

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which coordinates the sharing of firefighting resources between B.C. and other provinces, made the request for assistance in May.

As for whether more fire crews will be sent, Fraser says it depends on whether they’re needed.

“We’ll just have to see if they put out another request at the end of this 19-day deployment for the crews that have just arrived over the last few days,” she says.

There are currently 41 fires burning in British Columbia.

“Most of the province in a moderate to high fire danger rating,” Fraser says. “Previously the two areas that were most concerning was in the northwest fire centre and the Prince George fire centre.” She adds some rain has fallen in those areas in recent days.

With files from the Canadian Press. 

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