The SA Country Fire Service (CFS) will send nine firefighters to Canada on Saturday morning to deal with their escalating wildfire situation. CFS answered the call to send volunteers and staff to assist Canada’s incident management and fireground leadership teams in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Source: Timberbiz
“The CFS embraces opportunities to support overseas agencies, and this is the second consecutive year our firefighters have been deployed to Canada,” State Duty Commander, Matt Davis said.
“CFS firefighters are highly trained and highly respected, and we will not only support Canadian firefighters but also refine and gain additional skills to better protect our communities ahead of the Fire Danger Season.”
The South Australian contingent will join approximately 90 other personnel from our interstate partner agencies for a deployment which could last up to 40 days.
The CFS crew, which includes two firefighters from the Department for Environment and Water, will be:
- Libby Mapletoft, Fire Behaviour Analyst, Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
- Phil Tapscott, Divisional Commander, Region 4 Operations – Port Augusta
- Keagan Porter (Minlaton), Hayden Linggood (Cherry Gardens) and Steven Douglas (McLaren Flat), Sector Commanders
- Nat Tanti, Resources Officer, Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
- Matthew Allan (Region 1 Ops – Mt Barker) and Shaun Irrgang (Jamestown), Strike Team Leaders
- Bruce Hull (Region 1 Operations – Mt Barker), Supply Officer
There are currently hundreds of active fires in the Canadian provinces and local firefighters have been battling the fires on foot and using heavy machinery to create containment lines.
The SA crews will operate in control centres and those trained in arduous firefighting will be in frontline positions.
“The skills and capabilities of our emergency services members are highly regarded around the world and South Australia stands ready to assist,” Acting Minister for Emergency Services, Susan Close said.
“Undertaking deployments like these demonstrates how personnel are ready to put their own lives on hold to help communities in need, regardless of where they live.”
