The Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU) says it is ready to send forest firefighters to fight the devastating fires in Los Angeles, California. If the United States requests it, personnel from the four corners of Quebec could be deployed.
Over the past few days, several areas of Los Angeles County have been devastated by extremely intense fires. According to the latest report, the fires have killed at least 10 people and razed more than 10,000 houses and buildings.
In total, 153,000 Californians are subject to evacuation orders. Currently, American firefighters are still struggling to control the multiple fires.
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Thousands of homes were razed by fire in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas. (Archive photo)
Photo : (Ethan Swope/The Associated Press)
In the circumstances, the SOPFEU wants to be proactive and organizes itself to send reinforcements. I must admit that we are preparing for it
says its spokesperson, Stéphane Caron.
Although it is a period off season
for the SOPFEUthe company is currently recalling its workforce and verifying the availability of its wildland firefighters to assist California.
The organization says it is holding discussions with specialized firefighting teams from other Canadian provinces in the event of sending a delegation to California.
Eight pilots, two CL-415 air tankers and technicians from the SOPFEU are already on the ground to assist the American teams, as part of a mutual agreement with Los Angeles County.
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One of two air tankers sent to California to fight brush fires was grounded Thursday after hitting a civilian drone above the Pacific Palisades blaze. (Archive photo)
Photo : (Los Angeles County Fire Department)
Friday, the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, confirmed on the social network SOPFEU were going to be sent to the field next week, at the request of the American authorities
.
The deployment of ground teams would be done on a voluntary basis, specifies Stéphane Caron. It is still necessary that the firefighters do not have another job, […] but some would come from the North Shore, Gaspésie, Lac-Saint-Jean and Abitibi
he adds.
According to him, generally, forest firefighters respond very positively
to this type of request. In addition, he believes that a deployment abroad could allow forest firefighters to perfect their expertise.
Last year, the SOPFEU employed 280 forest firefighters and 600 auxiliary fighters. For the 2025 season, 30 additional firefighters will join the SOPFEU. They will return to work to fight possible forest fires in Quebec starting in March.
According to information from Charles-Étienne Drouin