International firefighters head home after a month of fighting western wildfires

Firefighters from Australia and New Zealand spent the last month fighting wildfires burning in Oregon and Washington. About 60 firefighters from the two countries filled much needed, specialized high-level positions on crews at the height of fire season.

• This is the 8th time firefighters from Australia and New Zealand have been deployed in the U.S. since 2000.
• The crews split up across Oregon and Washington to work specialized roles like Safety Officers, Task Force Leaders, Helicopter Base Managers and Division Supervisors.

( Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

Boots are getting cleaned and gear is being returned at NIFC.

“First time being deployed to a fire here, which has been very good. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for nearly 20 years," says Cameron Wade, a Safety Officer and Australian firefighter.

He is part of the Australian and New Zealand Wildfire response crew leaving Boise after a month in the U.S.

Wade spent his time as a safety officer focused on two wildfires in Oregon, where the terrain is noticeably different than back home.

“I think one of the main things is the vegetation types, with the pine trees everything starts at the bottom and peaks to the top. Whereas our trees, eucalyptus, they start at the bottom and they spread out at the top and so we have a very different canopy type fire environment between the two forest types," says Wade.

Wade tells me fires in Australia and New Zealand are primarily fought from fire engines whereas here in the states, using tools like bulldozers is much more common, especially in steep terrain.

“For me, it’s the experience that we don’t get in New Zealand," says Dale Tawa, a Task Force Leader and New Zealand firefighter.

He is part of a team of six Kiwis who came from New Zealand, embracing the opportunity to learn.

“Going on these longer duration deployments we can gain a lot of lessons learned and take that back to New Zealand to make sure that the next generation coming through is part of our succession planning and well prepared," Tawa said.

“These are not individual firefighting crews, but they’re senior level firefighters who have advanced qualifications,” says Stanton Florea with NIFC.

He tells me this is the 8th time Australians and New Zealanders have helped fight fires in the U.S. since 2000.

The crew of about 60 came at the height of the fire season when more than 30,000 people were deployed across the country.

“They really arrived at the right time in order to fill some holes in the staffing that we had, again, for those positions that really are arrived at by years of firefighting experience," added Florea.