69 Canadians giving up holidays to help fight Australian wildfires
The crews are from several provinces and territories will help with a variety of tasks including command and aviation.
Sixty-nine Canadians are giving up their holidays at home to help fight the devastating wildfires in Australia, which have claimed the lives of at least two people and have caused catastrophic fire conditions in several regions. “Catastrophic” is the highest fire danger rating from the Bureau of Meteorology and includes high temperatures, strong winds, and low humidity that puts homes and lives at risk.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre received an official request from assistance from Australia’s New South Wales state and says that 21 highly trained staff from a variety of agencies left Canada on December 3 for a 38-day deployment. The second group of 30 Canadians left for a 38-day deployment in the fire zone on December 19, and 18 more Canadians will leave on December 30 for approximately one month.
Canada has called on Australian firefighters four times since 2015, and the "agreements are reciprocal in nature, so it was the first time that Australia has needed help from Canada," says Kim Connors, the executive director of the Winnipeg-based CIFFC, as reported by The Canadian Press.
Crews that are trained to assist with a variety of tasks including roles in command, aviation, planning, logistics and operations are from Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon.
Aviation rescue crews checking for people in homes that have been cut off by wildfires in New South Wales. Credit: NSW RFS and Defence Australia
Australia recorded its hottest day on December 18 with an average maximum temperature of 41.9°C, which beat the previous record by 1°C and had been set only 24 hours earlier. On December 16, the continent saw an average temperature of 40.9°C. The following day, the highest maximum temperature of 47.7°C was recorded in Birdsville, Queensland.
Two Australian volunteer firefighters were killed while battling wildfires in the region surrounding Sydney on Friday when their truck hit a tree, which caused the vehicle to roll over. The firefighters, Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, were the first firefighter deaths of the fire season. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service issued a press release saying that, “this is an absolutely devastating event in what has already been an incredibly difficult day and fire season.”
With files from The Canadian Press.
