Shuswap firefighters were recently deployed to the Slocan Valley where several wildfires totalling around 8,300 hectares continue to burn out of control. 

Crews from Salmon Arm, Sicamous and the Columbia Shuswap Regional District headed southeast to the Kootenays where a half dozen wildfires have prompted evacuation orders and alerts for communities from Silverton to Slocan, and further south along Highway 6. 

The Salmon Arm Fire Department bid a temporary adieu to firefighters Lt. Mike Picul and Ben Schmidt, who left with a fire tender on July 30. On July 31, the CSRD announced a Fire Services Structure Protection Team that had been dispatched to the Ferguson and Trout Lake wildfires in Electoral Area B had since been moved by the BC Wildfire Service to the Slocan area. The crew included team leader Jeremy Denny from the Shuswap Fire Department, fellow Shuswap firefighters Shawn Cashion, Ryan Anderson, Matthew Denny and Ranchero-Deep Creek firefighter Nadine Christy. Also with the team was BC Wildfire Structure Protection Specialist Rob Brown. 

"We deeply appreciate their hard work. Stay safe!," said the CSRD. 

Sicamous Fire Rescue sent a team of three to the Slocan Lake Complex wildfires along with a tender. 

Deployments requested by the province are for a maximum 14 days.