Hon Albert Jacob BEnvDes M.Arch JP MLA,Hon Joe Francis MLA — WA firefighters deployed to Canadian fires

Five of the State’s leading fire managers will travel to Canada’s British Columbia as part of an 81-strong Australian-New Zealand contingent to help battle widespread forest fires.

Announcing the deployment today, Environment Minister Albert Jacob and Emergency Services Minister Joe Francis said the five Western Australian fire managers would leave on Sunday to help fight two fires in northern British Columbia.

“Western Australia’s fire managers will be deployed to a fire at Mt McAllister and another at Chelaslie River which have been burning for the past few weeks. These two fires are among 86 that have been burning across British Columbia, resulting in about 198,000 hectares burnt to date, the largest area burnt at this time of year since 1958,” Mr Jacob said.

Mr Francis said the Australian-New Zealand contingent would help relieve exhausted Canadian emergency services crews who were facing tough conditions.

“Our firefighters are skilled operators and will be playing a very important role in Canada, however this deployment will also provide our personnel with valuable experience and knowledge that will benefit WA. Partnering internationally with agencies that operate in high-risk wildfire environments overseas helps our fire services ensure they are abreast of contemporary developments in the firefighting industry worldwide,” Mr Francis said.

The Department of Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) identified five personnel who would fulfil positions as divisional commanders and an air base manager. They are Parks and Wildlife fire management officers Mark Moore, Stephen Mills and Jordan Cantelo and DFES district officers Gavin Eva and Danny Mosconi.

Mr Jacob said WA firefighters had been part of six contingents to the USA and one to British Columbia to assist with fire suppression since 2000.

“This deployment to North America has been facilitated through the development of an agreement between the Victorian department of Environment and Primary Industries and the Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Forests and Range for the purposes of assisting each other with critical bushfire emergencies,” Mr Jacob said.