Delta is pitching in to help fight wildfires in the Interior.

Delta will be sending two DPD officers, one firefighter and one municipal staff member to assist in the planning section of the Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Williams Lake.

The deployment is in response to a request for EOC staff by Emergency Management BC, including someone with financial analysis ability. At this time they have not asked Delta for any equipment or front-line firefighters.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e very specific about the personnel they need because there鈥檚 no point in having tons of bodies there if you haven鈥檛 got them organized to be productive and working together as a team,鈥� said Delta Mayor Lois Jackson. 鈥淭hey continue to ask where needed, and we鈥檙e standing by to respond as the provincial office requires 鈥� to help fight this fire at all levels, from the emergency command post right down to the equipment operators and first responders.鈥�

The Cariboo Regional District EOC is currently dealing with 11 fires in the Williams Lake area.

Delta has sent staff and first responders to aid other B.C. communities in the past, including fighting the 2003 fire that decimated the town of Barriere and, just this spring, helping the Okanagan Indian Band fight severe flooding. The municipality has also been on the receiving end of help from other districts.

鈥淟ots of times we鈥檝e requested people to come in for bog fires, big ones that we鈥檝e had in the past, and we鈥檝e always had such wonderful response from people,鈥� Jackson said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e more than happy to assist when they call us up. We鈥檙e ready to go.鈥�