TASMANIA
Fifteen Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service staff deployed to assist with firefighting operations in Canada have safely arrived home.
Minister for Parks and the Environment, Nick Duigan, said the Tasmanian Government was proud of their efforts.
“Our firefighting personnel were on the ground for more than a month to assist their counterparts in Alberta and British Columbia,” Minister Duigan said.
“All of your hard work and skills have been appreciated, with the fires which have so far burned more than five million hectares.”
Ten staff undertook remote firefighting roles, while five provided specialist roles in Incident Management Teams.
“I want to pass on my gratitude and thanks to our PWS firefighters and IMT members Mark O’Brien, Larissa Giddings, Keegan Pope, Jerard Flakemore, Stuart Primrose, John Duggan, Rhys Wilson, Jason Moore, Robin Meyers, Aidan Munro, Ben Hill, Phil Gillingham, Nic Deka, Catherine Charlesworth and Ken Brooks all of whom were able to provide specialist expertise,” Minister Duigan said.
“This deployment has demonstrated the incredible expertise of our staff and their adaptability to transfer their skills to provide much needed relief and assistance on the ground in Canada.
“All of your hard work and extraordinary skills have been appreciated. Thank you for lending a helping hand and I know your friends and families will be very happy to have you back home.”
PWS State Fire Manager, Katy Edwards said she is proud PWS was able to provide significant assistance to Canada during this challenging time.
“The request for our PWS fire fighters is a testament to the expertise and professionalism of the team, who are specially trained remote area firefighters and incident managers,” Ms Edwards said.
Tasmania is part of the National Resource Sharing Centre, which received a request from Canada’s Interagency Forest Fire Centre for support from all Australian states and territories to bolster the firefighting response.
Australian fire services have supported Canada and the United States numerous times since 2000, and Tasmania will continue to assist internationally whenever possible. Equally, Canada and the United States have assisted Australia in recent years, highlighting the importance for the international resource sharing arrangements.