BC’s Emergency Management Minister says the BC Wildfire Service will be reaching out to ‘experienced and skilled’ individuals in the Shuswap to help bolster the fight against the Bush Creek East Fire.

Bowinn Ma says people who have defied the evacuation orders are putting at risk the “unified strategy” for battling the destructive blazes.

“When unauthorized people are in evacuation areas it escalates the danger involved for everyone, it also limits the kind of wildfire fighting tactics the BC Wildfire Service can deploy,” said Ma. 

While Ma acknowledges some people want to stay and help fight the fires, she says it has become a divisive issue that is hampering response efforts.

“It redirects critical resources away from the wildfire fight itself into searching for moving equipment, moved equipment, redoing work that’s already been done to set up structural protection or just trying to manage an unpredictable situation — made even more unpredictable — by well-meaning but uncoordinated firefighting efforts.”

With that, Ma says the BC Wildfire Service is opening up a dialogue with people in the North Shuswap who are refusing to leave fire evacuation zones, to try and “create an understanding of the seriousness of the situation.”

“And as they’ve done in the past, in other communities, the BC Wildfire Service is (also) reaching out to skilled, experienced people in the Shuswap to try and incorporate them into their work.”

However, Ma stresses collaboration is key, explaining that the ‘collective fight is with the wildfire.’

“In order to do this, our efforts need to be united we need to work together, not against each other,” she said. 

“We can’t have equipment that has been staged for firefighters being moved so it’s not there when it’s needed… That puts the whole unified strategy at risk and it puts people and their homes at risk.”

The BC Wildfire Service’s Forrest Tower says those who are choosing to defy the evacuation orders and stay on their private properties in the Shuswap – are asked to stay in contact with wildfire personnel.

“There are ways we can work together, it can go as far as hiring people as emergency firefighters if there is a base level of training and safety certifications and personal protective equipment.”

However, Tower stresses it must be a collaborative effort for those who want to help the Wildfire Service.

“If you are there, make yourself known, and you will have to take direction from someone who is an expert and is part of the response model… If that willingness is there, it can work extremely well and it really does help us in the longer run.”

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The offer comes after some residents in the North Shuswap took to social media to voice their frustration, saying they are being denied supplies and resources needed to protect their homes and communities from the Bush Creek East fire.

It also comes after an online petition by ‘Communities of British Columbia’ to the BC Wildfire Service urged it to “stop fighting” residents who were trying to stop the “enemy [that] has come over the mountain.”

 

–With files from The Canadian Press