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Delta sending staff and first responders to help fight B.C. wildfires

Two police, one firefighter and one municipal staffer are headed to Williams Lake.
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Fire rages on Fox Mountain above Coyote Rock just south of Williams Lake and near Sugar Cane. Monica Lamb-Yorski photo

Delta is pitching in to help fight wildfires in the Interior.

Delta will be sending two DPD officers, one firefighter and one municipal staff member to assist in the planning section of the Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Williams Lake.

The deployment is in response to a request for EOC staff by Emergency Management BC, including someone with financial analysis ability. At this time they have not asked Delta for any equipment or front-line firefighters.

“They’re very specific about the personnel they need because there’s no point in having tons of bodies there if you haven’t got them organized to be productive and working together as a team,” said Delta Mayor Lois Jackson. “They continue to ask where needed, and we’re standing by to respond as the provincial office requires … to help fight this fire at all levels, from the emergency command post right down to the equipment operators and first responders.”

The Cariboo Regional District EOC is currently dealing with 11 fires in the Williams Lake area.

Delta has sent staff and first responders to aid other B.C. communities in the past, including fighting the 2003 fire that decimated the town of Barriere and, just this spring, helping the Okanagan Indian Band fight severe flooding. The municipality has also been on the receiving end of help from other districts.

“Lots of times we’ve requested people to come in for bog fires, big ones that we’ve had in the past, and we’ve always had such wonderful response from people,” Jackson said. “So we’re more than happy to assist when they call us up. We’re ready to go.”



James Smith

About the Author: James Smith

James Smith is the founding editor of the North Delta Reporter.
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