A veteran-led organization from New Zealand has arrived in Nova Scotia to assist Team Rubicon Canada in its recovery efforts following the wildfires in the Halifax area.
Seven volunteers from the group, known as Taskforce Kiwi, arrived in the Tantallon area on Wednesday. They’re expected to stay in the region for about ten days to sift through the ashes of impacted homes in hopes of recovering valuables lost in the devastating fires.
Jenny Calder, one of the travelling volunteers, said the two humanitarian organizations originally connected in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, earlier this year after Cyclone Gabrielle, a severe tropical typhoon, devastated areas in the country’s northern region. Team Rubicon Canada had deployed personnel to offer support in April — now her taskforce is returning the favour.
“The teams are going out and they’re helping sift through the rubble and finding the heirlooms and special treasures for the people who’ve lost everything,” she said. “If we can make a difference on the ground and help people get ahead with what they need to, it’ll make a big difference.”
Calder said the international crew has been “warmly welcomed” by both their friends at Team Rubicon and members from the community.
“It feels like home,” she continued.
She said her group was able to receive certain services, like skilled-chainsaw operation, that they didn’t possess prior to the Canadian crew arriving back in the spring. Calder said the relationship between the two humanitarian groups is beneficial as members from both sides continue to pick up new skills by working together.
As of Friday, Task Force Kiwi was receiving some training from the Canadian group before they began assisting with efforts on the ground.
“We’re also working alongside, doing disaster assessments so we can talk to the homeowners and find out where these heirlooms might be, we just integrated right into the team,” she said. “We’ve got the skills, we got the people, why not help if we can brighten someone’s day and help them get on their road to recovery a lot quicker?”
Bryan Riddell, CEO of Team Rubicon Canada, said that he can “only see good” from collaborating alongside international partners like Task Force Kiwi in long-term recovery efforts.
“I think we learned … within the first few days (of working together) that we had so much to learn from each other, and that relationship has continued on, now we see ourselves as mutually supporting organizations,” he said.
He said this type of external response is just as important as the support Nova Scotia received from outside the province when it came to fighting the wildfires.
Team Rubicon Canada has been in the area for a few weeks, with volunteers from Nova Scotia and throughout the country working tirelessly to clean debris and restore as much as they can. Riddell said some of his organization’s success with its recovery efforts in the Halifax area has “come as a surprise” to some homeowners who initially believed all items of sentimental value had been lost.
“It’s a pretty powerful moment,” he said. “We’ve recovered everything from a sugar bowl that was a multi-generational item in a family to second world war medals. Our folks are there purely to serve. They’re there to help experience that with the community and help them take that next step towards recovery.”
Riddell said in addition to sharing strategies and ensuring the crew can sort through as many homes as possible, he hopes the increased capacity of volunteers on the ground over the next week can allow for Team Rubicon to scale down to begin operating with a smaller, “persistent regional response” crew by July 8.
As of Friday, the Canadian volunteer group has received over 100 requests and searched about half of the impacted properties in the area.
“Our friends from Task Force Kiwi are here to help us meet that deadline so that we can get as many homeowners forward as possible,” he said.
When reflecting on his previous experience working together in New Zealand, he said most people from both groups meet for the first time when they’re assigned a task together, but it never takes long to form a shared connection.
“That baseline of military and first responder experience tends to unite us very quickly,” he said.
Since arriving in the Tantallon and Hammonds Plains communities to assist, Riddell said his crew has been overwhelmed by the “outpouring of love and the outreach from the community.” He said that about 30 per cent of his volunteers have been from Nova Scotia.
Following this week of assistance from the New Zealand volunteers, Team Rubicon will look to scale back its numbers and allow for local volunteers to spearhead the long-term response.
— with files from Skye Bryden-Blom
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