Guadalajara, Jalisco — A fourth group of forest firefighters has left Mexico bound for Canada. The group of 100 men and woman left the country Wednesday to help battle Canada’s raging wildfires.
The 100 Mexican forest firefighters were assembled from 22 of Mexico’s states.
In a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Government of Mexico said they “continue to provide support to Canada derived from the emergency caused by forest fires that plague the North American country.”
According to the Canadian Interagency Wildfire Center (CIFFC), more than 1,000 wildfires are currently active in the region of which 379 are in the province of British Columbia. During this season, 5,850 fires have been registered that have affected 15.3 million hectares.
In this context and on the instructions of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a fourth contingent made up of 100 combatants and a forest fire technician from 22 states in the country left Guadalajara for the province of British Columbia.
“The combatants of this contingent belong to official brigades of the National Forestry Commission (Conafor) and have the training, experience, physical aptitude and training required to remain in the field for as long as necessary, adhering to international standards to execute the work of control and suppression of forest fires,” the Ministry reported.
The second intervention team sent on July 5 returned on the same day the fourth team was sent out. That contingent concluded its assignment in the Prince George region after 49 days of combat and liquidation work.
Of the almost 400 combatants that Mexico has deployed in Canadian territory, 185 Mexican men and women will remain to continue to support coordination, control, liquidation actions and specialized fire management techniques in that country.
In June, a first team of 100 Mexican forest firefighters were deployed to Canada from the Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport in the city of Guadalajara. They landed in Thunder Bay, Ontario from where they were dispersed around the country to help battle ongoing forest fires.
