Firefighters from Australia and New Zealand now in the US to help local fire crews wrestling with almost 100 large bushfires.
The group was sent after a call for help from the US National Interagency Fire Centre was received by AFAC (Australian and New Zealand National Council for Fire and Emergency Services).
AFAC organised for a 74-strong group of incident management, liaison and ground crew to Boise, Idaho, where the centre is based.
The centre says the group will join local firefighters across the US Pacific North-West; it includes a historic 15-person incident management team assigned to the Castle Fire in the Umpqua National Forest, Oregon.
LATEST UPDATE: There are currently more than 92 big fires across the US, including nine new blazes, as of Wednesday (AEST), the centre says. About 2.45 million acres (992,000 hectares) have burnt as more than 20,000 firefighters and other personnel fight the flames.
SHARED FIREFIGHTING HISTORY
“We have a long history of collaboration and resource sharing with our counterparts in the US,” says AFAC Deputy Director Operations Emma Conway.
“We thank our members from Australia and New Zealand who are proud to support the US in their time of need.”
America is facing 72 large fires in the states of Oregon, Colorado, California, Minesota, Idaho, Floria, Washington, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina, Wyoming, Virginia, New Mexico and South Carolina.
NEW SOUTH WALES: 26 NSW fire specialists are now in the US while the NSW RFS Large Air Tanker Marie Bashir (a converted Boeing 737) has fought the fires for more than a month already.
The aircraft has already dropped more than a million litres of fire retardant on 21 fires in two states, most recently on the Summit and Thorn fires in California.
RFS Commissioner Trent Curtin says his firefighters are recognised internationally for their expertise.
“The RFS has worked alongside our international firefighting colleagues for more than two decades, supporting wildfire operations in other countries including the US and Canada,” he says.
“Our international deployment arrangements allow us to quickly assemble highly skilled personnel with specialists already identified based on their qualifications, experience and availability.”
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY: In a social media post, the ACT Emergency Services Agency says their seven-strong team underwent training in Boise before their deployment. The team will be involved in incident management and sector leadership.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Seven specialists that are part of the AFAC contingent were drawn from the South West, Pilbara, Kimberley and metropolitan regions.
The WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) chief superintendent Scott Hares, who will act as central contact for the crews, arrived in Boise ahead of the group.
The WA group includes personnel from the South West, Pilbara, Kimberley, and metropolitan regions and will be based in the US for five weeks.
WA Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm says their group has “very specific skills in leadership and incident management”.
“Our personnel will support firefighters on the ground facing extremely challenging conditions, including temperatures reaching a sweltering 39 degrees Celsius during the day and dropping to 0 (zero) degrees at night,” he says.
VICTORIA: 29 firefighters and other emergency service crew from Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) and Country Fire Authority (CFA) will be involved in incident management, air operations, sector command, taskforce leadership and field safety, the state government says.
Acting Emergency Management Commissioner Therese Fitzgerald says their crew are ready to help again.
“Victoria’s specialist personnel have again answered the call to support our international partners as they tackle these significant wildfires,’ she said.
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand sent a five-person team to be embedded in incident management teams to provide specialist support across planning, intelligence, operations supervision, aviation co-ordination, and leadership.
