May 27, 2010
Manitoba Sends Water Bomber Group to Assist with Quebec Forest Fires
Manitoba Conservation’s Fire Program has dispatched two CL-215 water bombers and a bird-dog aircraft to Quebec to assist with forest fires.
Several fires are burning out of control in an area about 400 kilometres north of Montreal. The Manitoba aircraft will land in Quebec City and will be deployed from there.
The aircraft and crews departed for the area this morning. The request was made through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, an agency that provides operational forest-fire management services to provinces and territories.
Recent rains and a favourable forecast have helped stabilize the forest-fire situation in Manitoba, allowing the province to send the aircraft to Quebec. There are six active fires in this province at this time. So far this fire season, there have been 152 fires requiring suppression action, 144 of which were human caused.
Open fires are prohibited from April 1 to Nov. 15 annually except under a burning permit or in an enclosed approved fire pit. To report a wildfire, call 1-800-782-0076 (toll-free) 24 hours a day.
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