Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan says dozens of firefighters from Alberta and British Columbia will help battle wildfires in California, and the federal government is coordinating efforts with provinces to deploy resources.
Sajjan says in a social media post that 60 firefighters from the two provinces will be deployed on Monday and that Canadian officials are working to identify and prepare more resources to send in the coming days.
He says in the post that “Our American friends have asked for help fighting the wildfires in California and the Canadian team is responding,” and concludes by saying: “Neighbors helping neighbors.”
A spokeswoman for Sajjan confirms in an email that Canada received and approved an official request for help.
Alberta announced last week it will send up to 40 wildland firefighters with additional personnel, water bombers and contracted night vision helicopters ready to deploy.
Meanwhile, British Columbia’s forestry minister said a team from the province’s wildfire service left for California on Saturday afternoon to help fight wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area.
Quebec said Friday it will send two more firefighting planes to California, a day after one of the province’s water bombers collided with a drone while fighting wildfires. The Canadian-made CL-415 was one of two planes from the province already assisting in the wildfire.
Their crews are sent to California each fall as part of an annual contract that has existed for more than 30 years.
The massive fires have killed 16 people and 150,000 people in Los Angeles County are under evacuation orders.
Alberta Forests and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said on social media Saturday that Alberta’s 40 firefighters are a “trained and experienced” team of Type 1 wildland firefighters.
“I have spoken directly to Cal Fire and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to assure them that Alberta is prepared to support them in their ongoing efforts,” Loewen said in his post.
Loewen said additional Type 1 firefighters, incident command personnel and qualified support personnel are ready to respond, if requested.
He added that Alberta is also preparing its contracted water bombers, pilots and night vision helicopters to assist in California.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2025.
