Ottawa, Ontario
Canada continues to provide support to the United States as they battle the devastating wildfires in southern California.
On January 13, the province of Alberta sent a trained and experienced crew of 40 Type 1 wildland firefighters and two support staff. Additional Type 1 firefighters, Incident Command personnel, and qualified support staff will be ready to go if requested. Alberta is also preparing water bombers and contracted night vision helicopters to be ready if needed.
This past Saturday, the province of British Columbia sent a team of senior technical staff to fill specialized incident command system functions. This is part of a long-standing bilateral relationship with CAL Fire and based on their request for support. B.C. is also sending a crew of Type 1 firefighters, through a U.S. National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) and Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) request for support.
In addition to the two CL-415 water bombers sent in August 2024 to Los Angeles, the province of Québec is deploying two other CL-415 water bombers to support firefighting efforts in California. Québec also has 60 Type 1 wildland firefighters available and on standby for deployment.
The Government of Canada continues to coordinate efforts with Provinces and Territories to line up all available resources to help the people of California. Canadian agencies continue to work closely with the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the NICC, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services and the City of Los Angeles to respond to requests and determine how best to assist in the response and recovery efforts.
Provinces in Canada continue to assess how they can help California's response; to date the following is also being mobilized, if requested by the United States:
- Ontario: Is preparing to deploy two CL-415 waterbombers to Abbotsford, BC on January 14, weather permitting, to help with fire suppression in California, if requested. Forest fire suppression equipment and an Incident Management Team are also on standby for deployment within 24-48 hours if requested.
- Saskatchewan: Has offered a wildland fire team and wildfire equipment.
- Atlantic region (New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island): Assembled a 20 person Type 1 firefighter crew ready to deploy if requested, and is investigating the availability of additional resources.
In addition to the supports listed above, specific commitments being offered include:
- The Canadian Armed Forces remains on standby with air transport capabilities to deploy provincial/civilian firefighting personnel and equipment.
- The Canadian Coast Guard continues to work with partners to offer support and to explore available resources, such as Incident Command resources that could be deployed to assist the response, if requested.
- CIFFC and Natural Resources Canada are working closely with the NICC and provincial/territorial authorities to continue building on our response by identifying more resources that can be deployed to support the response, including aircraft.
- Parks Canada has offered wildland firefighting resources, including a Type 1 wildfire personnel, incident command personnel, structural protection equipment, and other firefighting equipment.
- Transport Canada is ready to provide one National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) aircraft for fire mapping and hot spot detections and also prepared to deploy a Canadian liaison officer in any fire operational headquarters should the NASP aircraft be deployed.
