Central Saanich firefighters answer call to fight Fort St. John wildfire
The Central Saanich Fire Department has sent two experienced firefighters and a water tender to the Fort St. John area to help crews working to extinguish the Stoddart Creek fire burning in northeastern B.C.
The fire department’s chief says he got the call from the Prince George Fire Centre on May 14. He said the emergency operations centre asked the Saanich Peninsula community to send one of its water tenders trucks.
"We were able to scramble a crew on short notice," said Chief Kenn Mount. "We normally get called for structural defence type work so they’ll likely become part of a strike team or a task force that will be doing water shuttle operations."
Mount says it is very early in the season to get a call from the province for firefighting resources.
The Stoddart Creek fire is estimated to be more than 13,000 hectares and is considered out of control.
Mount says the department is sending one of its senior fire captains and an experienced firefighter to crew the tender.
“They have the training and qualifications to go,” said Mount. “Now we’re in the mode of preparing more members because they will probably go on a 14-day deployment.”
Mount says once the firefighters arrive in the Fort St. John area they will be self-sufficient for the first 48 to 72 hours. He says he expects they will be living in camps and working long hours.
“If these type of conditions and weather are maintained we’ll likely be swapping out crews in a couple of weeks,” he added.
Mount says supporting B.C. firefighters battling wildfires is a reciprocal exchange in which the department has actively participated.
“We tend to rely on our neighbours quite a bit with mutual-aid agreements but sometimes larger scale incidents require resources from the province,” said Mount. “The time could come at some point where departments we’re helping are coming to help us."
Mount says he expects the Central Saanich firefighters to arrive in the Fort St. John area on Tuesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
PWHL Minnesota defeats Boston to win inaugural Walter Cup
Minnesota won the inaugural championship of the Professional Women’s Hockey League on Wednesday night, getting 17 saves from Nicole Hensley to beat Boston 3-0 in a winner-take-all Game 5 and claim the Walter Cup.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
Edmonton Oilers set to make lineup changes for Game 4 of Western Conference final
The Edmonton Oilers are shaking things up. Down 2-1 in the NHL's Western Conference final to the Dallas Stars, head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed there would be lineup changes for tonight's Game 4.
McDonald's says $18 Big Mac meal was an 'exception' and their prices haven't risen that much
McDonald’s is fighting back against viral tweets and media reports that it says have exaggerated its price increases.
'Targeted again': Montreal police investigate after gunshot fired at Jewish school
Police are investigating another building in Montreal's community was struck by gunfire.
Tessa Virtue reveals she's expecting her first child. Here's what Canadians had to say
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
Poilievre says Canadians 'fleeing' to Nicaragua, Liberals say it shows he 'doesn't have a clue'
Liberal parliamentarians are criticizing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over a new video in which he promotes the idea that some Canadians are 'fleeing' Canada to live in Nicaragua because they can't afford a house in this country.
'Do not drive': Nissan warns Canadian drivers of explosion risk impacting 48,000 vehicles
Car manufacturer Nissan has issued a do-not-drive warning for some older vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators, due to the risk of explosion during a crash.