Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s final firefighter has returned from deployment to Canada.
The arrival of the International Liaison Officer on Thursday morning capped more than two months of deployments with 59 personnel assisting the Canadian wildfire response in Alberta and Manitoba.
Fire and Emergency also welcomed back its fourth deployment of Incident Management Team specialists on Wednesday.
Fire and Emergency Deputy National Commander Brendan Nally says he is immensely proud of the effort put in by all involved.
“Everyone who went over to Canada represented New Zealand very well.
“They’re bringing back invaluable experience of responding to large-scale wildfires which will enhance our wildfire response capability as we head into our wildfire season.”
Since 2000, Fire and Emergency has deployed more than 1600 personnel internationally to wildfire emergencies.
“We support other countries in their time of need and know that we will be able to call on them should we ever require assistance,” Brendan Nally says.
The deployment was also a big effort for those back home in New Zealand.
“I want to give thanks to the friends and family of those who deployed during this time,” he says.
“It is a big burden to take on back home to have your loved one away for five weeks at short notice, but we’ve heard countless stories of thanks from the people of Alberta and Canada for helping them in their time of need.
“I would also like to shout out to our National Coordination Centre team members and Region Deployment Coordinators and teams, who step out of their normal roles to fill the engine room behind these deployments to ensure they go as smoothly as possible.”
