In the spirit of giving, 69 Canadian firefighters, including some from Manitoba are giving up their holidays to try and help fight the devastating wildfires in Australia.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) said that after a request for assistance, 21 highly skilled firefighters were deployed to Austrailia for a 38-day assignment on December 3rd.
Last Thursday, another 30 were sent on a 38- day assignment, and on December 30th, 18 more firefighters will be deployed to Australia for about a month.
The executive director of the CIFFC says that Canada has asked for help from Australia four times in the past four years, and the agreements are reciprocal in nature, so when Australia asked for help for the first time, it was time to act.
Crews from 8 provinces are helping in a variety of roles including aviation, planning, logistics, and operations, but they won’t be on the front lines.
The crews are from Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Yukon, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and B.C.
Record high temperatures mixed with strong winds, have help fan over 100 fires in New South Wales, Australia alone.
The fires have killed two volunteer firefighters and destroyed dozens of houses since Thursday.
