August 18, 2003 * Agriculture and Forestry [to Oct 2003]Two staff members from the Department of Agriculture and Forestry left on Saturday to help fight forest fires in British Columbia. Jeff Hannam and Ray Pilon, who have been trained in forest fire suppression with the department, will help make up a 20-person initial attack team along with firefighters from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. They are being posted to the Kooteney National Park for an estimated two weeks. Forestry departments across Canada have an agreement to share resources to fight fires through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. The British Columbia government has declared a province-wide state of emergency.Media Contact: Wayne MacKinnon