Oak Bay Fire Chief Dave Cockle joins Saanich fire’s fifth rotation of firefighters headed to assist in the state of emergency.
Cockle left Monday to work on the Saanich emergency command centre vehicle stationed in Clinton.
“He’ll be assisting the EOC [emergency operations centre] director up there as they work through some of the worst of the wildfires in the area where there’s an evacuation order,” said Deputy Chief Darren Hughes.
Residents of Clinton were issued an evacuation order July 29. The community has been on evacuation alert since July 14, but the status changed because of the Elephant Hill fire, which had spread to cover 70,000 hectares, forced the evacuation of hundreds of people and destroyed more than 100 residences and properties.
Eileen Grant, Oak Bay’s emergency program manager continues the work we told you about in July, answering phones for Emergency Management B.C.
“She’s currently staffing the 1-800 line for evacuees … she’s been out there for 14 to 16 days now putting her time in overseeing approximately 30 volunteers from the region, of which we have around six Oak Bay emergency social service volunteers working as well,” Hughes said. “In the next week or so we expect Eileen will probably be seconded for the emergency social services ranch out at Keating.”
Officials with the BC Wildfire Service have warned that persistent hot, dry weather in southern parts of the province is likely to make the already nasty fire situation worse in coming weeks.
“We’re so very pleased and proud that we’ve been able to contribute our professional emergency staff and many of our volunteers to help the fire effort, in co-ordinating and certainly assisting with information regarding the evacuation all across the province. It just shows the expertise and experience that we’re able to contribute,” Jensen said. “This really has become a British Columbia effort, well co-ordinated and well received by the people who are the victims of these fires.”
The 2017 wildfire season is now the second worst in B.C. since records began, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
Since April 1, 491,000 hectares have burned across the province, sending this season over the 483,000 hectares burned in 1961. Only 1958 was even worse – 855,000 hectares burned that year.
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