The Government of Canada's top priority is protecting the health and safety of Canadians. It is committed to providing necessary supports to assist in managing the wildfires occurring in British Columbia.
In recent years, Parks Canada has provided wildfire resources to support British Columbia during times of need. Today, Parks Canada is sending 23 highly trained wildland fire management specialists including Incident Management personnel and wildland firefighters. Two Parks Canada fire specialists have also been working with crews in Alberta since July 4th.
The deployment to British Columbia is being coordinated through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). Parks Canada exchanges operational wildfire resources with provinces and territories through the Canadian Interagency Mutual Aid Resource Sharing Agreement and border zone agreements, as well as with international partners, coordinated by the CIFFC. These agreements ensure collaboration and distribution of resources where most needed.
Parks Canada wildland fire management specialists will be in British Columbia for two weeks. Seven wildland firefighters will be doing initial attacks on new fires, and the Incident Management personnel will take over management of one of the British Columbia fires. This team includes an Incident Commander and Information Officer as well as experts in Operations, Plans, Logistics, and Finance.
The Parks Canada specialists are travelling from Kootenay, Banff, Jasper, Prince Albert, Riding Mountain, Mount Revelstoke, Point Pelee, La Mauricie, Bruce Peninsula, Waterton Lakes and Elk Island National Parks and Parks Canada's National Office.
Parks Canada manages wildland fire across 350,195 km2 of federal Crown lands (approximately the size of Germany or six times the land mass of Nova Scotia). Parks Canada is the only federal organization that is an operational wildfire management organization with similar roles and capabilities as any provincial or territorial wildfire agency.
