Help is on the way for crews battling wildfires across BC.
In addition to the 20 firefighters from Alberta and the 15 from the Northwest Territories that arrived on Thursday, the following firefighting personnel and resources will be coming to the province in the next week:
-20 firefighters and 10 support staff from Saskatchewan
-Four CL-415 water-skimming aircraft from Quebec
-65 personnel from New Zealand
-62 personnel from Mexico
-25 support staff from Australia
These resources will add to the 2200-plus personnel battling the 446 wildfires in the province.
The requests for out-of-province help were made by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which helps co-ordinate the distribution of firefighting resources across the country.
Additionally, the BC Wildfire Service has arrangements with over 50 BC companies to bring in firefighters and specialized staff, including tree fallers and heavy equipment operators. As of Thursday, they have over 1,000 of these personnel, as well as 130 pieces of contracted heavy equipment, on hand.