Stephen Harper Says Thanks to Westside Road Firefighters

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in West Kelowna on Thursday to say thank you to firefighters working on the front lines of the Westside Road wildfire.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper posing with firefighters in West Kelowna (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)

Harper was joined by Premier Christy Clark, Okanagan-Coquihalla MP Dan Albas, Kelowna Lake Country MP Ron Cannan, and Forests Minister and Kelowna MLA Steve Thomson. Harper thanked the firefighters for all they have been doing not only in West Kelowna but throughout the province. The Prime Minister also mentioned that talks are in the works to come up with a better plan to combat human caused fires in the country.

“We have had an opportunity to talk with Premier Christy Clark and Premier Brad Wall and when the dust settles on all of this we are going to sit down and assess what new or different needs to be done in the future,” said Harper. “Better coordination, resources, and mitigation we’ll look at all those things. There has been a good cooperation among governments in this.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper meeting with active firefighters working on the Westside Road wildfire (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)

Harper gave no details as to what could be seen in the future for tackling fires and sharing resources in the coming years. Clark echoed the same feelings about future planning, to wait until this year’s fire season is over. After the quick speech, Harper only answered one question from the media about climate change and kept his comments brief saying that a meeting with international relations will take place at the end of the year.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Christy Clark speaking to the media (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com)

There are approximately 60 firefighters, four helicopters, and four pieces of heavy equipment working on the Westside Road wildfire, which is now 460 hectares in size. The wildfire is still zero per cent contained and an evacuation order is in place for 70 homes along Westside Road. No structures have been lost as a result of the fire.