B.C. sends fire-fighting crews to help combat wildfires in northern Quebec

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – British Columbia is sending fire-fighting crews to Quebec to help that province suppress wildfires that have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes.

Forests Minister Steve Thomson says 100 people in five units will head to northern Quebec on Sunday.

On Friday, winds were pushing flames away from Eastmain, which has been the most severely affected of five communities in Quebed.

Over the past month, about 400,000 hectares of forest have been charred, power failures have been triggered and shipments of groceries to village stores have been hampered.

The fires are being blamed on the driest summer in 40 years around James Bay, the hub of Quebec’s hydro production.

Thomas says crews have also been deployed to Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories but that sufficient resources remain in B.C. to respond to any forest fires at home.