20 firefighters from Nova Scotia heading west to aid fire efforts
Posted May 12, 2016 07:46:54 AM.
Last Updated May 12, 2016 07:53:11 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Fire resources are being called on from Nova Scotia to help in Western Canada but the expert teams aren’t headed some of the obvious fire zones discussed in the past several days.
Wildfires are burning out of control in Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba this week, so through the Canadian Inter-Agency Forest Fire Centre, Winnipeg has requested 20 Nova Scotian firefighters to assist with fires in Manitoba.
The firefighters will take off from Halifax on Friday and Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources Minister, Lloyd Hines, said logistics will be left up to the forest fire agency.
“There is a process that we are a member of and a partner in and it works very smoothly,” Hines said.
“This is not a free-for-all when these things happen, it’s co-ordinated. They are the ones that know what the need is, know where the intensity of the fires are that are causing the most trouble, and where the resources can be best deployed.”
Hines said with the ‘west on fire,’ people across the province are concerned about those out west and want to help whoever needs it.
He said firefighters will be deployed for two weeks to fight the fires along the Manitoba-Ontario provincial border, that are said to be threatening infrastructure in the area.
If another team is required in Alberta or B.C. during that time, the Minister said more Nova Scotia fire teams can be sent west, as he said northern Alberta hasn’t asked for any additional assistance at this time.
“We had two teams in British Columbia last year, because that’s where the need was at the time,” he said, adding decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
