Australian firefighters put out fires in Canada

New South Wales, Australia, put out a call for help to Canadian firefighters to relieve exhausted local volunteers between 2019 and 2020. This year, Rural Fire Service Volunteer James Koens was one of 50 Australians to return the favour. The deputy captain of the Alpine/Aylmerton brigade near Bowral travelled to British Columbia to help coordinate the firefighting effort on fires burning in the southwest of the country.

"It's certainly one of the highlights of my personal and professional life," he said. "To go to Canada, which has been a bucket list trip of mine, but to fight fires successfully internationally is a privilege and it was an honor to represent Australia in doing that."

Different techniques and altitudes

Koens worked as an operations chief, which meant he helped manage the firefighters and coordinate the firefighting effort for his area. "I recognized the difference from Australia would be there, but I underestimated how different it would be. Everything was different from the firefighting techniques, the equipment, the way fire burns and the activity due to the height of their terrain. The vegetation grows and lives differently at different altitudes, so you get different fire activity with that.

"I'd love to say the Aussies in shining armour entered the country and single-handedly put it to bed, but it's a waiting game to slow the fire and buy some time until you get a snow or rain event that can assist in putting it out, which is what happened to us. When we arrived, it was out of control and impacting towns and lives, and we left a month later with it being declared under control."