Three water-bomber tanker planes are heading from Quebec to British Columbia to assist with the wildfires raging in the western province. The Quebec forest fire prevention agency (SOPFEU) said on Saturday that the Government Air Service (SAG) Transport Ministry planes will take six pilots and three aviation maintenance technicians west to Williams Lake, around 650 kilometres north of Vancouver. There are 118 active wildfires burning in the province, with 31 of those having started in the past 24 hours, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service. SOPFEU added that the situation in Quebec is “currently under control.” There are four active fires in the southern intensive protection zone, and 115 active fires in the northern area. “Although its teams remain heavily mobilized to carry out the complete extinguishing of the fires that have occurred in the northwestern part of the province in recent weeks, these efforts now rely mainly on ground interventions carried out by the forest firefighters,” SOPFEU said. The fires burning in the intensive zone are considered under control, and rainfall in the north has reduced fire activity. They are no longer a threat to communities or infrastructure, SOPFEU said. This means that the lending of the three planes to BC will not compromise Quebec’s operations.
