The Newcomb brothers stayed behind and have been putting out hot spots around the White Rock Lake wildfire near Monte Lake (Image Credit: Dan Newcomb)

By Chad Klassen

WILDFIRE MEMO

‘This memo is damning’: Kamloops MLA outraged over lack of firefighting resources

Aug 19, 2021 | 11:04 AM

KAMLOOPS — The provincial government is facing some serious questions after a leaked memo pointed to an extreme fire season and a lack of resources that wouldn’t be able to keep up.

It forced residents Dan Newcomb and his brother David to feel they needed to stay behind and work tirelessly to put out hot spots. They are working near Monte Lake on the White Rock Lake wildfire.

“We are running around doing spot fires. It’s really good today. After the rain, it really settled things down, but after [the B.C. Wildfire Service] did the backburn — we’re on the northeast end of the guard up Ivor Road — there was a lot more spot fires. We’ve had a lot of guys running around with totes putting things out,” said Newcomb.

They’ve been there basically since the fire ignited July 13. They felt they had no choice but to stay behind with what they felt was a lack of firefighting resources.

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“There was no support to begin with. It’s been said many times, but in Paxton Valley there was no structural support. No one came through,” Dan noted.

So it’s no surprise to the Newcomb brothers that a memo sounded the alarm bells about a shortage of personnel and a warning about an extreme fire season.

The memo is dated July 12 — a day before the White Rock Lake fire started. It was written by a member of the forest industry after a conference call that included the B.C. Wildfire Service.

Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone feels it contradicts what the provincial government has been saying about being prepared for the fire season.

“The government has been spreading misinformation about the level of resources that have been made available to the B.C. Wildfire Service,” said Stone. “This memo is damning. It clearly states that the B.C. Wildfire Service does not have the firefighters they need, the equipment they need, the air support they need.”

Stone says it proves that Monte Lake and Paxton Valley residents were right to stay behind to fight the fire.

“People up there impacted have been made to feel like they’ve been irresponsible, that they don’t know what they’re talking about, that they’ve been making up stuff,” said Stone. “And it turns out that it’s actually the government — the Premier [John Horgan] and the Minister [Mike Farnworth] in particular — who have been doing exactly that.”

Stone says he hears from local contractors every week who have the equipment and are ready to help.

“Whether those are fire suppression systems, structural protection units, water curtain systems, similar to what saved, in part, Logan Lake,” said Stone.

Farnworth responded, “Over 1,000 contractors working on the fires in British Columbia, and to suggest the wildfire service has been leaving resouces idle in other provinces is simply false and not true.”

Meantime, the Newcomb brothers would love to be compensated for the equipment and water they’re using to keep the White Rock Lake fire from reigniting around Monte Lake.

Note: This story has been corrected to clarify it was not a B.C. Wildfire Service memo. BCWS has responded to the memo. We have reported on their response here.