It's worth pointing this out because this is summer in Australia i.e. fire season. Historically the us, Australia and iirc Canada have shared resources and personnel which you know we're not in a great position to do right now since California is taking in firefighters from other states - ThreadSky

kendrawrites.com • 110 days ago

It's worth pointing this out because this is summer in Australia i.e. fire season. Historically the us, Australia and iirc Canada have shared resources and personnel which you know we're not in a great position to do right now since California is taking in firefighters from other states

Reposted from Cam Walker

During our Black Summer, more than 1,000 people came from North America to assist in firefighting efforts.

The overlap in fire seasons in both hemispheres has huge implications for how we fight fire.

Australia needs its own fleet of Large Air Tankers (LATs).

www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Comments

rockyrex.bsky.social•110 days ago

alisonborealis.bsky.social•110 days ago

South Africa usually joins this too.

mandyjwatson.bsky.social•110 days ago

I just mentioned this elsewhere but we are slightly different because I think our volunteers are paid by Canada. They are very skilled but the job doesn't pay well in South Africa so this helps them to earn a living over more of a year because of the exchange rate.

https://bsky.app/profile/mandyjwatson.bsky.social/post/3lfcrs4ksh22m

rogley8.bsky.social•110 days ago

The massive monstrous 2019/2020 Australian fires were supported by Canadian and US firefighters, and we go overseas to reciprocate. Local firefighters put everything out there to save your life, then save your property, then save your livelihood. 1/n

rogley8.bsky.social•110 days ago

2020 had stories of local firies watching their own homes burn down because they were tasked to protect a more valuable asset. Professionalism in the highest. 2/n

rogley8.bsky.social•110 days ago

One of the largest takeaways from the 2009 black Saturday bushfires is that help is not guaranteed and not all homes can be saved. There are just not enough resources, not for want of trying. People died thinking they could protect their property and rely on a fire truck to assist. 3/n

rogley8.bsky.social•110 days ago

Local firies are just exhausted. I took this photo in 2006 in Mansfield in Victoria. They rely on international help as they put *everything* on the line for you. 4/4

rogley8.bsky.social•110 days ago

Damnit, forgot to add the photo..

taralconley.com•110 days ago

wow

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

It also means firefighters aren't getting down time which in addition to poor pay, and suss benefits (I'm in bed can't get into details now), and you know worse working conditons (cause fires are so bad now) are contributing to a domestic firefighter shortage.

saveourfarms.bsky.social•110 days ago

Maybe a case for a year-round UN-type or sponsored corps of international firefighters.

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

I can't get to into it but firefighting is an incredibly physically taxing job. Some of the burnout is it's not a job you can do all year you need recovery built into it and ideally that recovery would be paid

saveourfarms.bsky.social•110 days ago

Oh, it absolutely should be paid, and individuals would need lots of paid time off. My thought was the international coordination of teams, almost like the American military, where a large, organized professional contingent of firefighters is up and ready to go anywhere.

kimista.bsky.social•110 days ago

But the point is they're needed everywhere at once now. And bringing in teams from overseas is helpful to a point, but you really need local knowledge on the ground for proper planning and safety.

It's an incredibly difficult job, with a huge cost. They need more support to make it sustainable.

saveourfarms.bsky.social•110 days ago

Local knowledge is invaluable.

lizalizaliza.bsky.social•110 days ago

My brother’s a wildland firefighter and it was years and years until he was able to get a position that paid year round and offered the opportunity for office work/benefits/paid conditioning in the off season. He’s still getting paid much less than I am, and his job is much harder in every way

gili92107.bsky.social•109 days ago

Reddit has an informative subgroup focused on wildland firefighting amid the 💩 posts there’s a lot of discussion on pay equity and retention.

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

This is how bad fires are now: a rep from the one of the big fire agencies told me in 2020 I believe (maybe 2019) if a home isn't defensive, that is if the owner didn't take steps to cut back vegetation etc they're more inclined to let it burn than risk a firefighters life.

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

If you want to learn more about the international coordination here you go

https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/international-support

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

Idk given all the talk about claiming countries seems like a good time to talk about what good natured collaboration can accomplish

drtaragoddard.com•110 days ago

that's not even necessarily new. My sister, who fought fire 20 yrs ago now, said she'd be on fires where they had to decide if it was even possible or worth it to try to save on a house by house basis. Thanks to movies/TV, people expect firefighters to do absurd things for every single structure.

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

My favorite high school teachers son died fighting a structural fire and it really crystallized for me if a firefighter has to choose their life vs my property they should choose life.

drtaragoddard.com•110 days ago

That's awful, I'm sorry. And I 100% agree.

fflobster.bsky.social•110 days ago

That has been the case for a while. Fire-fighter safety is the #1 priority, as it should be.

ruthmensch.bsky.social•110 days ago

as they should tbh.

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

Zero disagreement. Only reason I didn't name the agency is I'm in bed in my phone and can't pull up my notes to fact check myself.

lucindacatchlove.bsky.social•110 days ago

Most of Australia's firefighters are volunteers fyi (my brother is one but too old to do international trades). South American and African nations are also very involved in these kinds of exchanges.

mandyjwatson.bsky.social•110 days ago

Yes. South Africa sends a contingent, called Working On Fire, to Canada every year in our down months (June/July), which I believe Canada pays for. I don't think Canada sends back though as we probably have enough skilled firefighters for our fire season. (We wouldn't be able to afford them anyway.)

sratchley.bsky.social•110 days ago

A large sector of California firefighters are prisoners

kendrawrites.com•110 days ago

I'm aware and I'm talking nationwide

rinewithoutacat.bsky.social•110 days ago

Canada (Québec + BC) are in LA now!

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/two-quebec-planes-and-their-crews-helping-fight-devastating-l-a-wildfires-1.7168683

rinewithoutacat.bsky.social•110 days ago

If you/others understand FR, an interview with the person in ^that story, the chief tanker pilot. (And +1, Canada's fire season is getting worse, but that's at least later in the year than now...)

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/videos/1-10264039/feux-a-los-angeles-entrevue-avec-un-chef-pilote-avion-citerne

jordantcarlson.bsky.social•110 days ago

Canada and Aus send firefighters back and forth every year, yeah.

scriban.bsky.social•110 days ago

They’re the inverse of the lifties that work the ski resorts.

castouroboros.bsky.social•110 days ago

I’ve worked with American teams that came up north to help us when we’ve had bad seasons. We still have an off season so our full crews are not available at this time of year but we’ll come if California asks for us.

neiljb.bsky.social•110 days ago

I was talking to a very experienced NSW RFS volunteer who told me that RFS volunteers who go to the US can't actually do boots-on-the-ground work because they are unpaid volunteers. There's something is US law that requires firefighters to be paid.

Anyone heard the same thing?

lucindacatchlove.bsky.social•110 days ago

Yep, my brother is part of the volunteer rural fire service in Australia and we've been talking about this since the 2019/20 megafires. Canada has also been massively on fire the last few years (commercial logging/forestry adds to the problem of both fires and floods in Canada).