Northland firefighters off to help battle Alberta wildfires

A burned section of forest in the area near Edson, Alberta in Canada, smoulders earlier this month. Photo / AP

Two firefighters from Northland are among 25 from New Zealand flying out to help fight a number of wildfires that are raging in the Canadian province of Alberta.

Ken Ogilvy from Paparoa Volunteer Fire Brigade and Hamish Lewis from Rawhiti VFB will specifically assist with arduous conditions firefighting, incident management requirements, and air operations.

The New Zealand contingent of four five-person crews, an agency representative, taskforce leader, two air specialists and an incident commander will leave New Zealand at midday today and join a 200-strong Australian team that will support Canada’s firefighting operations.

The initial deployment is for seven weeks.

A firefighter of about 20 years, Lewis said it was humbling to get selected for an overseas stint — his third — and perhaps the toughest challenge in terms of the area to be covered and the type of landscape to be navigated.

He helped out with the New South Wales fires in 2020 and 2021 that raged in steep terrain and in unbearable heat.

Veteran Northland firefighter Hamish Lewis is among 25 kiwi firefighters that will help fight wildfires in Alberta. Photo / Supplied

“The scale of the operation in Canada is a lot bigger. They are on Level 5 and asking for international help. There are 198 active fires in Alberta and about 1.9 million hectares have already burnt,” Lewis said.

“It’s quite flat and swampy, very hard underfoot, not easy to transport gear and very remote. I am looking forward to helping the Canadians and I am sure they’ll help us in return.”

Lewis said firefighters put a lot of effort into training and when the time came for deployments overseas, they put their hand up and utilise the skills they’ve honed over the years.

The situation in western Canada is significant, with large wildfires burning across the area just north of the US-Canada border.

A drought through Alberta has lingered since their autumn, with fire activity starting early and more than 20,000 people evacuated from their homes and oil and gas production affected because of shifting fire conditions.

“Fighting fires of this magnitude is a hugely demanding task. We’re happy to provide support to our Canadian colleagues,” FENZ deputy national commander Steph Rotarangi said.

“It’s extremely tough firefighting conditions in Canada just now with unseasonably hot, tinder-dry weather and shifting wind elevating the risk of wildfires spreading in an area already under pressure.”

“Deploying overseas is a valuable development opportunity for those involved. It gives them experience in different environments that they can bring back here and apply to New Zealand wildfires,” Rotarangi said.