As the haze of smoke from wildfires burning in British Columbia and elsewhere settles over the Lower Mainland, a Port Moody firefighter is heading into the thick of it.
Kirk Heaven, a deputy chief with Port Moody Fire and Rescue, left Wednesday morning for Fort St. James, located on the shore of Stuart Lake in the north-central part of the province. The 1,600 residents of the former fur-trading post have been under an evacuation alert since last Saturday because the Shovel Lake fire, which has already scorched more than 31,000 hectares, is only about 35 km away.
The fire is one of 566 such conflagrations currently burning in the province, prompting the B.C. government to declare a provincial state of emergency Wednesday. The declaration, which is in place for 14 days, facilitates the coordination of local, provincial and federal responses to the fires.
Heaven will help manage the emergency planning operations, including financing and logistics, said Port Moody Fire Chief Ron Coulson, and will be in Fort St. James for seven to 10 days.
Coulson said the fire threat to the community is particularly concerning because the fort from which it takes its name is a national historic site that was founded by explorer and fur trader Simon Fraser in 1806.
Coulson said Heaven has plenty of experience running emergency operations, having previously deployed to help with the 2013 floods in Calgary and the wildfire that devastated Fort McMurray two years ago. He also helped fire crews working at the bog fire in Richmond two weeks ago.
Coulson said every opportunity to help is a learning experience that can be used to bring new knowledge and expertise back to Port Moody.
“There’s opportunities to learn, in case a disaster happens locally,” Coulson said.
