Six more crew members from the BC Wildfire Service are headed down under to join seven colleagues already helping fight fires that are ravaging the state of New South Wales.
The six members, all command and control specialists and with expertise in planning, logistics and aviation were among 30 Canadians deployed from the Vancouver International Airport on Thursday evening, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
Canada’s initial deployment of 21 firefighters left on Dec. 3.
“The conditions are pretty dire,” said CIFFC executive director Kim Connors.
“They’re having high winds, no rain at all. They’ve had some pretty bad fires up there, and they’re spread all throughout the state, everywhere.”
Australian authorities said Friday that two volunteer Australian firefighters had died fighting fires near Sydney, prompting Prime Minister Scott Morrison to return early from a Hawaiian vacation.
Eight people have died in the fires, and 700 homes have been destroyed. Nearly three million acres of bushland have burned.
“Tomorrow is only the first day of summer for them down there, so their season is just starting really,” said Connors.
“They really have a lot of concerns about what their summer is going to look like. So, you know, Canada and the U.S. may be helping Australia for quite some time.”
Canada’s Dec. 3 deployment is slated to return early next month. The crew that left on Thursday will remain for 38 days, and their deployment is funded by the Australian government.
-With files from Reuters
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