BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) crews have returned to home after two weeks supporting the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection with wildfire fighting efforts in Los Angeles.
“In times of need, we will always be there for our friends; that’s who we are as British Columbians and as Canadians,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests.
“Firefighters don’t ask questions, they run into fires. I want to express my deepest gratitude to each of the crew members who made the trip south.”
On January 11th, the wildfire service deployed a senior management team of 13 technical specialists to support CAL FIRE’s efforts to control the fast-moving Palisades wildfire. Working directly alongside the American incident management team, B.C.’s unit supported in planning, logistics, operations, aviation, fire weather and information roles.
“BCWS members integrated into the team, supporting various incident command system positions,” said David Scheurich, staff chief, CAL FIRE.
“This collaboration highlighted differences in processes, paving the way for greater future integration between the agencies. As wildfires grow larger and more destructive worldwide, partnerships like these are essential, and we are grateful to our B.C. partners and all the other states and countries that lent their support.”
In addition, 22 front-line personnel and one agency representative from our province arrived January 16th to provide a variety of wildland firefighting support roles.
The crew participated in fire-readiness activities, rehabilitation work and front-line wildfire suppression on the Eaton and Hughes wildfires.
The top priority was to support CAL FIRE with expertise and personnel.
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