International help arrived in British Columbia on Monday, as the province continues grappling with dozens of out-of-control wildfires. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar was waiting at the Vancouver International Airport as more than 100 firefighting personnel from Mexico touched down—heralding their arrival during an intense long weekend that saw thousands of wildfire evacuations. “I am so honoured, on behalf of all British Columbians, to be able to be here to welcome these incredible heroes,” said Parmar following their arrival. “In our time of need, you are here supporting us.” For the first time, the assistance from Mexico includes an incident management team that will help lead firefighting operations in the province. Parmar thanked everyone who arrived for thinking beyond borders, as he noted Canadian crews do for neighbours in need during challenging wildfire seasons as well. More than 200 additional personnel are expected to arrive from Mexico later this week, and others will be soon coming from jurisdictions as close as Alberta and as far as Australia. The B.C. Day weekend saw an increase in wildfire activity caused by a combination of dry lightning, strong winds and what officials have described as record drought conditions in the south of the province. “We’re seeing conditions of our fuels that we have never seen before in B.C., and that is creating explosive fire behaviour,” Cliff Chapman of the B.C. Wildfire Service said during an update on Sunday. Conditions have since improved, with crews expecting to have a few days to make progress containing and suppressing some of the fires—but Chapman noted August is generally the province’s hottest month of the year, and that there will surely be more challenges to come. “Worth noting for the rest of August we do anticipate that we’ll see more lightning, which means more fires to come in the future here, too,” Chapman said. According to the wildfire service’s dashboard, there are currently 126 active wildfires across the province, 53 of which are classified as “under control” and 20 of which are classified as “being held.” Seven were sparked during the last day, while 14 were declared out.
