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B.C. crews sent to help fight devastating wildfires in Ontario, Quebec

Both provinces helped B.C. during the 2017 wildfire season
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B.C. wildland firefighters get ready to battle wildfires in Quebec and Ontario. (BC Wildfire)

The province is deploying wildfire crews to help with the increasing wildfire threat” in Quebec and Ontario.

The northeastern Ontario community of Temagami has been put on evacuation alert, while other residents around the region have been already been forced out of their homes after lighting-caused fires blew up faster than expected.

Another 60 or so active fires are burning across Quebec, in an unusually brutal wildfire season for the province.

Ontario will get 45 firefighters and two agency representatives as of Monday, and Quebec will be loaned 100 firefighters and two agency representatives by Wednesday.

Quebec and Ontario will cover B.C.’s costs for sending the crews over.

The province wanted to help Ontario and Quebec because of the “invaluable assistance” they offered last year, according to the BC Wildfire Service, when more than a million hectares of forest burned across B.C. in its worst wildfire season on record.

The agency said it was confident B.C. had enough resource to deal with its current wildfires.


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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