Volunteer firefighting crews from the Cowichan Valley have travelled to the Interior to help battle wildfires that are ravaging B.C. in the early summer.
The North Cowichan and Mill Bay fire departments have each sent a fire engine and a crew of four to 100 Mile House, where they are helping fend off the Deka Lake wildfire. The crewsB次元官网网址� primary job will be to help protect structures from the flames.
According to North Cowichan manager of fire and bylaw services Martin Drakeley, his department got the call from the BC Wildfire Service on Friday night, and an engine with a crew of firefighters representing all of North CowichanB次元官网网址檚 halls was on the second ferry to the Mainland on Saturday morning.
The Mill Bay Fire Department got the call around the same time, and in just over 12 hours, four members of the department were on board Engine 75 and headed to the Interior. Cedar has also sent an engine and crew.
Such calls can come suddenly, but departments are prepared for them.
B次元官网网址淵ou know itB次元官网网址檚 coming,B次元官网网址� Drakeley said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 kind of every year. The crews do train for it.B次元官网网址�
The training is useful locally as well, Drakeley added, and can be of particular benefit to North Cowichan with the massive municipal forest reserve it has to tend to.
North CowichanB次元官网网址檚 fire engine is committed to serve the BC Wildfire Service for two weeks, but the department is able to rotate crews as much as they want. The first crew will be with the engine for seven days before being replaced by another. The firefighters are reimbursed for their efforts, but there are still challenges for them, on top of helping to fight wildfires.
B次元官网网址淭wo weeks is a long time to have a paid, on-call staff away from their families and jobs,B次元官网网址� Drakeley said.
Some of the firefighters take holidays, and some take other time that they are owed, Drakeley explained, adding that their employers deserve a hand as well.
North Cowichan will be able to pull back its own engine and crew at a momentB次元官网网址檚 notice, if necessary, but it will still take 10 hours for them to return. ThatB次元官网网址檚 important, Drakeley noted, as North Cowichan is the only municipality on Vancouver Island, if not in B.C., with its own 5,000-hectare municipal forest in tinder-dry conditions.
ItB次元官网网址檚 unusual for crews from the Island to get the call to help in the Interior this early in the summer, Drakely pointed out.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e three days into the fire season,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd we usually donB次元官网网址檛 get deployed until August.B次元官网网址�
