Fire crews with Yukon First Nations Wildfire say they are ready, willing and able to help with out-of-control fires burning in B.C. and are wondering why they haven’t received the call. Statements from the organization posted online say its crews are trained and certified and could be on the B.C. fire line faster than any crew flying in from overseas, but that instead firefighters are being brought to B.C. from countries like Mexico and Costa Rica. Wildfire resources across Canada and internationally are co-ordinated through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which says in a statement that it is up to each provincial or territorial fire management agency to decide who they want to hire. It says hiring and contracting protocol varies agency to agency, so specifics relating to which resources are brought in fall outside the organization’s purview. The centre says it is working with Indigenous partners to better understand and address barriers to the participation and deployment of Indigenous wildfire resources. Neither the BC Wildfire Service nor the provincial Ministry of Emergency Management immediately responded to a request for comment. Yukon First Nations Wildfire says it’s not asking for special treatment but wants to know why it’s being “skipped.” “Every dollar spent flying in international crews is a dollar that could go straight to the First Nation crews we have standing by. We guarantee that it costs less to deploy a crew from the Yukon to B.C. than it does from Mexico or Costa Rica,” an online post says. Large fires burning in B.C. have required help from crews around Canada and internationally, including from Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and Costa Rica. The Yukon’s territorial wildfire services also sent some members to B.C. last month. This report by Ashley Joannou of The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2026
