Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
The first contingent of New Zealanders deployed to North America to help manage wildfires has returned home today (Saturday).
Fire and Emergency New Zealand has sent three deployments totalling 68 people overseas in the last month. The first team of five left New Zealand for the United States on 24 July and has been working on fires in Oregon and Washington State, filling specialist roles in incident management teams.
Partner agencies have contributed to each of these deployments, with the forestry industry, Department of Conservation and New Zealand Defence Force each providing people alongside Fire and Emergency’s volunteers and paid personnel.
Fire and Emergency’s Deputy National Commander, Megan Stiffler, says that the team’s work has been greatly appreciated by the US firefighting authorities that requested New Zealand assistance with their challenging wildfire season.
“Our people have a well-earned reputation for being highly competent and totally committed to the job. The people we select for international deployment not only lend their skills and experience to the host country, they bring the flexibility to slot in easily to new teams and the willingness to give their utmost every day.”
Firefighting deployments to North America last five weeks, including travel. Each team has a period of induction and training in local procedures before beginning two fourteen-day rotations on duty, with a three-day rest period between rotations.
Megan Stiffler says that the experience of working on large-scale, complex wildfires will enhance New Zealand’s own readiness for the coming fire season, which is predicted to be longer, drier, hotter and windier than in recent years due to El Niño.
The second deployment, comprising six people, left New Zealand for Canada on 6 August and are been supporting Canada’s wildfire response in British Columbia. The third is made up of 57 firefighters and incident management specialists, who are currently working on fires in Utah and Washington State.