Fire management personnel from North Bay and many other northern areas are being deployed to Oregon to fight the huge blaze at Holiday Farm fire near Redmond.
"Our hearts go out to the people of California, Oregon, and Washington as they battle devastating and unprecedented wildfires, in addition to the challenges they face with the COVID-19 pandemic," Premier Doug Ford said today.
"Ontario is an internationally recognized leader in wildland fire management with staff who are highly trained and skilled in fighting wildfires. We have been working together with other provinces and territories to field a Canadian team to support the firefighting efforts in Oregon."
Yesterday, the province deployed 19 specialized MNRF personnel to assist with ground operations at the Holiday Farm fire spokeswoman Dinani, Maimoona told BayToday.
"In the spirit of cooperation, we want to do what we can to help our neighbours to the south during this difficult time," added Ford.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) says the MNRF contingent is among a group of 40 to 50 overhead personnel from Canada, including supervisors and technical experts, scheduled to arrive in the U.S. Pacific Northwest by today.
The MNRF group is expected to remain in the US for 14 to 19 days.
Other cities on the list in addition to North Bay:
- Sudbury
- Cochrane
- Haliburton
- Timmins
- Wawa
- Chapleau
- Sault Ste. Marie
- Sioux Lookout
- Thunder Bay
- Dryden
- Kenora
With files from Thunder Bay Newswatch.
