Logging company worker dies while aiding crews at Vancouver Island wildfire
Worker was apparently making a delivery to firefighters, WorkSafeBC says
A logging company employee has died while aiding fire crews near a wildfire on Vancouver Island.
The province's workplace safety authority confirmed a TimberWest employee was found dead in a vehicle south of Nanaimo, B.C., around 10 p.m. PT on Monday.
The worker was not a firefighter, WorkSafeBC spokesperson Trish Knight Chernecki said.
"Early information indicates the worker may have been transporting water to firefighters at the Nanaimo Lakes fire," she told CBC News early Thursday.
Knight Chernecki said a WorkSafe investigator was sent to the scene. She said the death was not related to a crash and may have been from natural causes, but could not give any more details, including the person's name, age and gender.
The B.C. Wildfire Service confirmed there was a "medical incident" at the fire overnight on Monday.
When contacted for comment, TimberWest said information would come from the wildfire service.
There are currently 462 fires burning in British Columbia, a much higher number than the 130 fires reported on the same date one year ago.
With a file from Yvette Brend