Firefighters due back on Monday after Canadian deployment

14 August 2015

Sixteen firefighters who helped battle fires in Canada for more than a month will return to New Zealand on Monday morning.

The firefighters left on 10 July for the state of Alberta where fires have destroyed about 500,000 hectares of forest.

The team are expected to arrive at Auckland International Airport at 5am, 17 August.

Members were drawn from rural fire authorities around the country and provided frontline support to local firefighters.

National Rural Fire Officer Kevin O'Connor said the firefighters had shown their mettle during the long, strenuous deployment.

“Their skills – especially in logistics and working effectively in remote locations using aircraft – proved really useful and were in high demand.”

Mr O’Connor said the fire risk had dropped significantly and most international firefighters had left for home.

The deployment followed a request from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. New Zealand previously lent support to Canadian authorities in August 2009 during an outbreak of wildfires.

New Zealand firefighters have also helped their counterparts in Australia nine times and in North America six times in the past 15 years.

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