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Fraser Lake unveils new wildfire sprinkler unit

The new Wildfire Sprinkler Protection Unit trailer (SPU) is once again ready to take on any fire events in the current season, according to a press release by the Fraser Lake Fire Rescue Training Society.
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The new Wildfire Sprinkler Protection Unit trailer (SPU) is once again ready to take on any fire events in the current season, according to a press release by the Fraser Lake Fire Rescue Training Society.

The capabilities of the $200,000 unit were demonstrated at a public event at the Nadleh Whut’enne Yah complex on May 29.

It was first deployed last summer, just two weeks after it was delivered for protective action against the Island Lake and Verdun Wildfires.

The society was unable to publicly unveil the unit last year because it went into action so soon after arriving.

The unit’s features include six high volume water pumps, more than three miles of hose, 300 sprinkler heads and two 2,500-gallon water tanks.

The process of obtaining the powerful unit took nine months and the training society formed new partnerships with the Stellat’en and Nadleh Whut’en First Nations.

“These partnerships are innovative and show how working together we can overcome the odds and focus on protecting our communities as one,” said Dave Christie, President of the Fraser Lake Fire Rescue Training Society.

“The three communities have been working together and finding synergies [over] the past two years, the SPU trailer is only the beginning of what we can accomplish together.”

The purpose of the SPU unit is to train new crews made up of emergency responders and residents from Fraser Lake, Stellaquo and Nadleh.

So far 26 emergency responders and area residents have been trained for local SPU crews.

The trailer and crews will also be available for the BC Forest Service to use outside of the immediate area.

The Fraser Lake Wildfire Sprinkler Protection Unit was funded by the members of the Fraser Lake Fire Rescue Training Society, Stellat’en, and Nadleh Whut’en First Nations, Four Rivers Co-op, and the Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund.



Blair McBride
Multimedia reporter
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