B.C. is bringing in outside help to battle the wildfires blazing across the province.

A total of 70 additional firefighters from Ontario, including a land-based tanker group, will start arriving Tuesday.

Forestry Minister Steve Thomson said the province has also requested an additional 296 personnel to buffer local efforts. Some of those crews are from Australia and New Zealand, although it’s likely the latter crew will be deployed to Alberta.

There are currently 184 active wildfires in B.C., with 23 new fires sparked in the past day alone. Nine of those fires have triggered evacuation alerts and orders.

Kurtis Isfeld, Caribou Fire Centre Manager, said there are no more available B.C. firefighters to help suppression efforts.

“We currently have all of our own B.C. wildfire staff engaged in operations, as well as 622 contracted staff, and that’s why we’re looking at our partners to acquire additional resources,” he told reporters.

“Any increase in fire load will be difficult for us to manage.”

Thomson also announced the province has secured a contract to use the iconic Martin Mars water bomber, which was grounded in 2013 in favour of several smaller skimmers, if it’s needed.

The minister couldn’t say when that could happen, however.

“I’ll leave it to the professionals in the field to determine when that resource would be utilized, but we are at a position now where we can use it,” Thomson said.

The province’s hesitation to bring back the Mars wasn’t about money, Thomson added, but whether the bomber would be an efficient use of the province’s resources.

“We have statutory access to the funding we need in order to deal with this current situation,” he said.

The provincial fire service believes 30 new wildfires will spark each day going forward because of the higher-than-average seasonal temperatures coupled with record low rainfall.

The province has spent more than $90-million for fire suppression, far exceeding the roughly $60-million budget for 2015.

Thomson said there is a contingency fund to cover the overage, but it’s difficult to say how much worse the fire season will get.

“Where we need those funds they’ll be there. We will make sure we have the resources available to protect communities,” he said.

A campfire ban issued for most of the province is expected to expand into the Vancouver Island fog zone on Wednesday, the minister added.

That fire ban is expected to remain in place for the next seven to 10 days.

Three air quality advisory warnings remain in place in the Sea-to-Sky Corridor, Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver/Fraser Valley.

Dr. James Lu of Vancouver Coastal Health says the air quality has improved in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in the past two days, but not enough to remove the advisory.

“Our concerns are the sensitive or more vulnerable populations,” he said.

“Hopefully this will be short episode and we’ll get back to normal soon.”

The wildfire danger rating remains at high to extreme in most of the province.