Emergency Service personnel from the South East are among those being deployed to Canada to assist in fighting wildfires.
Two Forestry Corporation fire specialists from Batemans Bay and Bombala, and two RFS members from Bega and Moruya are among the first teams being deployed to help.
The NSW contingent is coordinated by the NSW Rural Fire Service and made up of 20 RFS representatives, five from National Parks and Wildlife, two from State Emergency Services and four from Forestry Corporation.
Canada is experiencing significant fire activity with 650 active fires burning.
More than 400 of those wildfires are out of control having burnt a total of 1.5 million hectares of land.
Batemans Bay Forestry fire specialist, Peter Carstairs who is travelling with his Forestry colleague, Silviculture and Fire Coordinator Tim Gillespie-Jones, said he will be in a safety advisor role this year after being deployed previously in 2023.
“I went last year as a division supervisor. That role entailed looking after a division of fire staff, so we had a number of contingents on that fire, including groups from Mexico and other countries. The Mexicans were particularly interesting, as they had different techniques for firefighting, including using machetes and hand tools to create very long fire trails. Very hard working people and they’re great to work with,” Carstairs said.
“This year I’m heading over as a safety advisor, so looking after the safety of all the the staff on the fire,” he said.
“Looking forward to the trip, it should be a great opportunity to enhance my skills on the fireground which I can use upon my return in Australia.”
Mr Carstairs will serve as a Safety Advisor knowing exactly what to expect of the Canadian wildfires after he undertook a month-long deployment over there last year.
“The fires in British Colombia are particularly dangerous firegrounds. The trees are shallow rooted and burn through quickly. When one tree falls, they fall down in numbers like match sticks,” Mr Carstairs said.
“In the north of British Colombia they had a really dry winter, with not enough snowfall so now in summer the forests are being igniting by dry lightning strikes.
“Last year when our Australian IMT arrived over there, the Canadian IMT were so relieved as many were completely exhausted having not had a break on the firegrounds for months. It’s again at that point now,” he said.
Forestry Corporation’s Bombala-based Silviculture and Fire Coordinator Tim Gillespie-Jones and South Coast Fire and Operations Team Leader Peter Carstairs, who also deployed to Canada last fire season, will fly out for British Colombia today.
Forestry Corporation’s Senior Manager Environment and Sustainability Dean Kearney and Lead Forestry Officer Daniel Macaree will also deploy to Canada at the weekend.
Tim Gillespie-Jones has 22 years’ experience as a firefighter and started his career as a forester with Forestry Corporation in 2005. He has previously undertaken a host of interstate deployments and has served as a level two Incident Controller and Divisional Commander for the past 10 years culminating in numerous declarations across NSW including the Black Summer bushfires.
“I am excited to be part of this deployment. It is my first international deployment, and it will be great heading overseas with Peter Carstairs, who I work closely with here on the South Coast,” Mr Gillespie-Jones said.
“I’m really looking forward to repaying the favour to the Canadian firefighters who assisted our crews during the Border fire and Rockton fire in 2019 and 2020.
“I worked closely with Canadian firefighters during a large strategic backburn along the Victorian border to protect the softwood plantations of Bondi State Forest. Being able to repay that contribution is a big reason behind my deployment,” he said
Minister for Environment Penny Sharpe said:
“We wish our National Parks and Wildlife Service specialist firefighters safe travels as they head off to join the international effort to bring the Canadian wildfires under control.”
“The request for our National Parks fire fighters is a testament to the professionalism of the team, who are specially trained remote area firefighters and incident managers.”
“This is an important opportunity to exchange skills and knowledge and thank them for their efforts.”
Two RFS members from the South Coast, one from Moruya and one from Bega will also make the trip.
One will be in a Deputy Incident Commander role and the other in a Helibase Manager role.
Images: Forestry Corporation
