Two more firefighters from Manitoba left for Australia on Saturday to help fight raging wildfires.
Geoffrey Smith and Trevor Tetrault from Manitoba Conservation and Climate volunteered to join the three other Manitoba firefighters already there.
“It helped to have the support of the family,” Smith said. “Missing part of my son’s hockey season, that’s going to kind of bother me, but Australia is looking for help and we’re pretty happy to step up.”
A total of 21 Canadians are being deployed to Australia this weekend and another eight are leaving on Monday.
Currently, there are 65 Canadians helping out, but the first group of 21 firefighters will be heading home next week, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
Canadian firefighters are primarily assigned duties related to planning and logistics.
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Smith said he’s anxious for the challenge ahead.
“We’re going into an area dealing with fire fuels that we’re not used to or accustomed to in Canada,” Smith said.
“Their structure is set up quite similar to our structure so I’m sure we’re going to fit in well.”
The death toll is now at 23 people in Australia.
The wildfires, which have been burning since September, have already burned millions of hectares of land and destroyed more than 1,500 homes.
Smith and Tetrault bring more than 30 years of firefighting experience each.
“We are pretty darn proud to be representing Manitoba and Canada over there,” Smith said.
The two Manitobans are committed to staying in Australia for 38 days.
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