Canada ready to send more aid to fire-hit Australians

OTTAWA — Nearly 100 Canadian fire experts have been sent to Australia to help battle one of its worst wildfire seasons.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada is willing to do more to help, but a spokesman from his office says all Australia has requested so far is more people.

“I have communicated with my Australian counterpart to reiterate that we are prepared to consider further assistance as necessary,” Champagne said in a statement. “When wildfires spread through Canadian communities, Australia answered our call for help. We are proud to do the same.”

Canada has offered money and equipment to aid other countries in the past, including a $15-million offer of cash and temporary use of water-bombers when the Amazon rain forest was on fire in Brazil and Bolivia last summer. Global Affairs Canada has not yet said whether any of that money flowed or if the waterbombers were deployed.

University of British Columbia biology professor Karen Hodges said it is common for the international firefighting community to share resources in times of need. “Whenever there are catastrophic wildfires, other countries are willing to help,” she said.

Australian firefighters, alongside Americans, Mexicans and New Zealanders, came to Canada in 2018 to help British Columbia beat back the worst fire season the province has experienced.

The Australian national council for fire and emergencies said Wednesday that 97 Canadians have deployed to Australia to help this season along with 159 Americans and others from New Zealand. One group of Canadians arrived to cheers and applause as they pushed through the doors into the airport arrivals area in Sydney on Jan. 6. Angela Bogdan, the Canadian consul general in Australia, greeted the group and told them the Australians are extremely grateful for their help.

“I cannot underscore enough that in making this long journey you’ve brought hope and reassurance to these people,” she said.

The first group of 21 experts who arrived in early December headed home Wednesday, as another group of eight arrived. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian tweeted a thank-you to them Wednesday, saying “NSW won’t forget what you have done.”

Most of the Canadians are there to help with aviation, logistics and fire behaviour, while Australia relies heavily on local volunteer firefighters to battle the blazes. Widespread drought and several heat waves have created perfect conditions for fires, which have scorched millions of hectares of bushland since October. Australian sources differ on how much land has burnt.

Hodges said in Australia, there are often many small, cooler-burning fires that take out dead scrub brush and grasses, but don’t destroy the tree canopy. The difference this year is that, because of drought and heat, the fires are burning hotter and far more trees are succumbing to the flames, she said.

Officials in Australia say 25 people have been killed in the fires. More than half a billion animals are believed to have died.