Crew of Atlantic Canadian firefighters head to B.C. to help battle forest fires

FREDERICTON — Another group of New Brunswick firefighters is heading to British Columbia to help battle historic forest fires in the province.

A crew of 16 firefighters from New Brunswick and five from Newfoundland and Labrador are travelling to the Kamloops area to help with fires that have charred more than 11,500 square kilometres of land.

Energy and Resource Development Minister Rick Doucet says it will be the 13th mobilization from New Brunswick this summer.

Twelve firefighters who left on Aug. 22 are due to return to New Brunswick this week after helping with what the BC Wildfire Service says are 158 fires still burning in the province.

New Brunswick is part of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which helps co-ordinate aid among provinces.

So far this year, 67 firefighters have been deployed to combat out-of-province forest fires, while New Brunswick sent 77 firefighters to Alberta and Nova Scotia last year.

The Canadian Press