The BC Wildfire Service says it’s not sure yet if it will be asked to send resources to Australia.

Information officer Kyla Fraser says seasonal firefighters are done for the year and aircraft are no longer on contract, but she says the province will help out where needed if asked.

“All international deployments go through CIFFC, which is the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, and Australia has just requested that an agency representative from CIFFC go and assess the situation there. So he will report back, likely not until Friday. So it we were to receive a request it wouldn’t come until Friday, or more likely early next week.”

“We know that we have supported them in the past, I think that it’s maybe not as common and maybe it’s a bit skewed, just after the last couple of years because we’ve had so many international resources coming to B.C. to assist us. But it’s definitely something we’ve done in the past, that’s why we have these agreements in place so we can assist where necessary.”

The state of New South Wales in Australia is under a state of emergency, where three people have been killed by wildfires, dozens have been injured and more than 200 homes have been destroyed.

(Photo: NASA; taken on Nov. 9)