Five additional federal wildland fire suppression crews traveled to Alberta, Canada this past weekend to further assist the province with fire suppression operations. Previously, five federal fire crews, as well as thirty fireline management personnel, traveled to the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan the weekend before.
The 20-person crews were mobilized through the National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise, Idaho under a federal agreement with Canada. They came from the states of Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota, and Utah. In addition to personnel, the National Interagency Coordination Center has sent 300 radios to support operations in British Columbia. The air tanker that was sent to Alberta on July 5 returned to the United States last week.
The states of Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, through interstate forest fire compacts, are also providing wildland firefighting personnel to support the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Canada is experiencing an busier than normal fire season; fires in the four provinces receiving assistance have burned more than six million acres this year. For more information on Canada’s current fire situation, visit www.ciffc.ca.
