The four British Columbia firefighters who died in a highway crash this week all worked for a Kamloops-based contractor, whose owner said they were 91Ƶour family.91Ƶ
Aaron Duczak, owner of Tomahawk Ventures, said three of the men were Indigenous, and that all four were 91Ƶirreplaceable.91Ƶ
The men died when their pickup collided head-on with a semi-truck on Highway 1 east of Cache Creek in the province91Ƶs southern Interior early Tuesday morning.
Duczak said in a statement that the men91Ƶs lives had been 91Ƶtragically cut short.91Ƶ
RCMP say the initial investigation suggests a Ford F-350 pickup truck carrying the four men failed to navigate a bend in the highway and slammed into the semi travelling in the opposite direction.
Duczak said the company appreciates the public91Ƶs support and concerns but is asking for privacy.
91ƵThe wildland firefighting community has lost four good ones and they are irreplaceable,91Ƶ he said.
Posts on social media accounts belonging to two men who worked for Tomahawk said they died on Tuesday.
The men were Xaxli91Ƶp First Nation member Kenneth Patrick and Sts91Ƶailes First Nation member Blain Sonnenberg.
Xaxli91Ƶp First Nation Chief Darrell Bob said in an interview that Patrick was among the men who died, saying he was a hard-working man.
He asked that Patrick91Ƶs family be given privacy.
Billy Amanda LaRock, an executive assistant at the Sts91Ƶailes First Nation, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that friends and family would be gathering at the Sts91Ƶailes elders log building to mourn Sonnenberg.
On Monday, Sonnenberg had posted a photo marking the end of a 14-day wildfire deployment.
91ƵWell, our 14 days are done with this tour!! Off to the next,91Ƶ he wrote, tagging Patrick to the picture.
A B.C. government statement on Wednesday said the four men who died were heading home after aiding wildfire response efforts in the Vanderhoof area, west of Prince George.
Posts on Patrick91Ƶs Facebook page show videos of him and fellow Tomahawk firefighters.
He is seen joking with colleagues as they conduct controlled burns.
91ƵUp in the heat with my bois smashing out these fires,91Ƶ he wrote on Aug. 26.
Premier David Eby and Forests Minister Bruce Ralston issued a joint statement saying their hearts are broken by the deaths of the workers.
Their deaths bring to six the number of wildfire personnel who have died this season in the province.
In late July, 25-year-old Zak Muise died in a vehicle accident while fighting a massive fire in northern B.C.
Two weeks before that, 19-year-old Devyn Gale was killed by a falling tree near her hometown of Revelstoke.
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