‘That’s what good neighbours do’: B.C. sending help to fight California wildfires

British Columbia is preparing to deploy B.C. wildfire crews to southern California.

Premier David Eby announced on social media that the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has asked for a senior management team from BC Wildfire Service, and that they are departing imminently.

“We're also working to send ground crews as part of a national response,” wrote Eby.

“California has been there for us, we will be there for them. That’s what good neighbours do.”

Ravi Parmar, the B.C. Minister of Forests, told CTV News that they expect around 20 ground crew members and a dozen management personnel to help in the fight to contain and suppress the flames wreaking havoc in the Los Angeles area.

California officials have reported at least 10 people have died, and more than 10,000 properties have been damaged since Tuesday, with 153,000 residents still under evacuation orders.

Over the past few days, Abbotsford-based Conair Aerial Firefighting has been watching closely as three of their tanker planes have been used to contain the flames and prevent more neighbourhoods from being erased.

“We produce these airplanes, and we sell them to AeroFlight, and AeroFlight is operating these airplanes right now in Los Angeles,” said Michael Benson, Conair's director of business management.

The company is based inside a hangar at Abbotsford International Airport and manufactures firefighting aircraft by converting commercial planes into air tankers.

Conair reported last month that it converted 20 Dash 8-400 aircraft into aerial firefighters to fight wildfires, with 15 converted and delivered in the last four years.

Port Alberni is also being represented in the fight against the LA wildfires.

Coulson Aviation has a contract with a southern California power company that uses their three Chinook and one Intel helicopter to combat wildfires.

“Everything's running out of Port Alberni. We're running airplanes back and forth with parts and people,” said Wayne Coulson, the CEO of Coulson Aviation.

Coulson explained that one aircraft had a break, and they flew to southern California to work on it overnight and made it serviceable by the morning.

The company is also operating a fleet in Australia and South America.

Coulson says that the company is monitoring the fire containment in southern California this weekend as they expect the fire to pick up in the area early next week.