Province Joins With Red Cross in Setting up Special Fires Hotline

By 250 News

VICTORIA - To provide additional support to local governments managing fires in the Central Okanagan, the Province is partnering with the Canadian Red Cross to operate a fire information line for some of the most notable  interface forest fires happening throughout British Columbia. An interface fire is one that is impacting, or has the immediate potential to impact, people or structures.

The information line will be activated immediately and will provide information on the following major fires:
* Terrace Mountain
* Back Valley
* Mount McLean
* Yalakom Valley
* Eight km south of Brookmere

The toll-free line will initially operate from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. daily. The hours of operation will be extended or shortened as required. The fire information number is 1-888-350-6070.

The call centre will be based out of the Red Cross B.C. Disaster Response Centre in Burnaby. This state-of-the-art facility holds the TELUS Red Cross Call Centre, which is capable of running 44 call lines and handling up to 10,000 calls a day. TELUS donated the cutting-edge call-centre technology to the Red Cross. The Province will cover costs associated with this service such as long distance charges and meals for Red Cross volunteers working the phone lines.

Canadian Red Cross volunteers will operate phone lines at the call centre and answer questions from the public. Red Cross volunteers have also been on the ground since the onset of the West Kelowna Fires - supplying cots, blankets and hygiene kits at reception centres, as well as providing recovery needs assessments.

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