World News | A Firefighter Has Been Killed While Battling a Wildfire in British Columbia, Canada
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A firefighter has been killed while fighting a massive wildfire in northeastern British Columbia, marking the second such fatality in the Canadian province this month and the fourth in Canada during this year's record fire season.
Vancouver, Jul 30 (AP) A firefighter has been killed while fighting a massive wildfire in northeastern British Columbia, marking the second such fatality in the Canadian province this month and the fourth in Canada during this year's record fire season.
A release from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Saturday the 25-year-old man from Ontario was working Friday just before 11 a.m. in a remote area when his heavy-duty ATV rolled over a steep drop on a gravel road.
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Police say the victim, who has not been identified publicly, was transported by helicopter to Fort St. John but died en route.
The RCMP say a workplace fatality investigation is underway.
Provincial officials have confirmed the man was a contracted firefighter working for the wildfire service through a private B.C. company and died while fighting the almost 6,000-square-kilometer (2,316 square mile) Donnie Creek blaze.
B.C. Premier David Eby issued a statement on Saturday saying the fatality coming so soon after Gale's death “has shaken people throughout” the province and devastated the firefighting community.
"This wildfire season has been profoundly awful," Eby said.
Statistics from the provincial wildfire service show there are currently 363 active wildfires in British Columbia, with 11 new fires in the last 24 hours and 191 blazes classified as out of control.
In total, there have been 1,517 wildfires in British Columbia this year, burning a record-breaking 15,397 square kilometers (5,944 square miles) of trees, bush and grassland. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)