Third international deployment as firefight continues
USA bound: Members Matthew Pond, Nicki Lund, Nikki Buchanan, Mandy Maglaras and Megan Angel with DCO Alen Slijepcevic AFSM
CFA members have joined more than 240 personnel from Australia and New Zealand deployed to North America this week to support international firefighting efforts as wildfires continue to burn across Canada and the United States.
It is the third deployment of CFA members to the United States and Canada this year, with more than 300 Australian personnel from several agencies now deployed overseas to support international firefighting efforts.
During the month-long deployment, the CFA contingent will undertake a range of specialist incident management roles primarily in the Northwestern Region before returning home in mid-September.
In Canada, more than 120 wildfires are currently burning - 42 of them in British Columbia - with high temperatures, gusty winds and dry lightning creating challenging conditions for firefighters.
Wildfires are also continuing to place significant pressure on firefighting resources across the western United States. Washington, Oregon and Idaho are among the states experiencing significant fire activity, with 30,000 firefighters working to contain 98 large fires.
District 8 Brigade Support Officer Megan Angel is one of the members travelling as part of the deployment. It will be her first time heading to the USA, having previously been deployed internationally to Canada.
“By the sound of everything that's happening over there at the moment, we're expecting to be pretty busy,” Megan said.
“I've heard that the USA is quite different from Canada, but I've worked with the USA crews before over here. I'm looking forward to seeing them on their patch.”
International deployments are coordinated through the AFAC National Resource Sharing Centre, which facilitates the sharing of specialist personnel and resources between fire and emergency agencies.
Victoria and Canada have a long history of shared assistance when it comes to fighting fires. More than 70 Canadians travelled to Victoria in January to assist with bushfires across the state.