B.C. Wildfire Service learning from response in California, information officer says
At least 27 dead in L.A. fires, 14,000 structures destroyed
Members of the B.C. Wildfire Service helping out in California as the fires in Los Angeles continue to burn say they're learning a lot about fire response and how to apply what they're seeing to British Columbia.
Earlier this month, B.C. sent more than two dozen personnel, including firefighters and a management team, to California to provide support as the state battles multiple fires.
"We are treating it as an incredible opportunity. It's an unprecedented situation. We're learning lots," B.C. Wildfire Service strategic adviser Carol Loski told CBC News.
"We really are just happy to be here to help the people of Los Angeles and the state of California."
At least 27 people have died as a result of the wildfires in L.A., and more than 14,000 structures have been destroyed.
Karley Desrosiers, a B.C. Wildfire information officer has been stationed in Malibu for the past week.
"Compared to a camp back home, it's exponentially larger," Desrosiers told CBC's Daybreak North host Shelley Joyce. "It spans for over a mile along the beach, trailers kind of everywhere, people everywhere. This camp itself is servicing about 5,600 people right now."
She arrived as part of a contingent of 12 personnel from the B.C. Wildfire Service to work with the local incident management team. While they share their expertise, they're also learning how different jurisdictions operate during an emergency.
"From a kind of operations perspective, a lot of similarities, but really it's just a larger scale."
It's unclear what the summer will look like in British Columbia in terms of wildfires, but the past few summers have been among the worst wildfire seasons on record.
The B.C. Wildfire Service is now active year-round to proactively reduce wildfire risks, in addition to firefighting.
In September, the province agreed to give wildfire fighters earlier pensions in an effort to recruit and retain staff.
But there's much to be done if B.C. wants to be prepared for whatever lies ahead, experts say.
Desrosiers says one thing that stands out when comparing the California response to B.C. is the sheer number of information officers involved. In B.C., she said, there are usually about five people on an information team, but in California, there are upwards of 50.
Because of the number of people involved, Desrosiers said, there are more meetings throughout the day.
"[We're] looking at how that works and how that functions, whether or not that would be something that would be kind of practical for us," she said. "There's so many things happening here that might not be appropriate at our scale.
"Tools and technology on how to disseminate information would be the biggest learnable that I think would be relatively easy to implement."
With files from Daybreak Kamloops and Courtney Dickson