The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has deployed a third group of forest firefighting personnel from the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture to Ontario to assist colleagues in that province with the continued forest fire threat.

This deployment consists of eight firefighters and one agency representative who will be responsible for coordinating equipment and crew logistics.  The firefighters will join 10 others from New Brunswick to form an 18-person sustained action Atlantic Crew, and are expected to be assigned to fires in the Thunder Bay region.  It is anticipated the deployment will last for 19 days.

Seven firefighters and one agency representative currently on deployment in Ontario are scheduled to return to the province today.

The requests for assistance are administered through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Mutual Aid Resource Sharing (MARS) agreement. This agreement between provinces provides for the efficient sharing of forest firefighting resources where required throughout the country.

Adequate fire suppression resources remain in place throughout Newfoundland and Labrador to manage forest fires. This includes four water bombers, several helicopters and firefighting staff, strategically located throughout the province.

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Media contact
Craig Renouf
Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture
637-2923, 640-6922
craigrenouf@gov.nl.ca