A crew of 24 firefighters from Nova Scotia will start fighting wildfires in British Columbia Monday.
'There could be some difficult, difficult terrain, extremely hot temperatures and long hours.'— Kim Steinbart, fire information officer
The Nova Scotia crew flew from Halifax Sunday morning at the request of the B.C. government.
The fires in British Columbia have forced thousands of people from their homes. They're burning all over the province, with the most severe fires are in the southern Interior where it's driest and more densely populated.
Kim Steinbart, B.C.'s provincial fire information officer, said fire crews work 14-hour days for 14 days in a row, and then get three days off. The Nova Scotia crews will likely work the same hours.
"The conditions that the Nova Scotia crews are going into are quite critical and they do require a high level of experience," said Steinbart.
"There could be some difficult, difficult terrain, extremely hot temperatures and long hours."
Dan Davis of Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources said the threat of forest fire in Nova Scotia is diminished enough right now that losing a crew of 24 won't create danger.
"They're from across the province," said Davis.
"One thing that we try to do is bring the right people in and not take them from one particular area. So they're coming from parts of Cape Breton, central Nova Scotia, I think a few from the western region as well."
Davis said a crew of 24 is all B.C. has requested for now. The province of B.C. will pay their wages while they're there.
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