Last week, more than 240 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand were outside on the campus of the National Interagency Fire Center, on the north end of Boise’s airport. That center helps coordinate wildfire response across the country.
Firefighters are getting the radios they’ll be using out on the fireline. One is sporting a big, red tote bag with “Cheers mate” written on it.
“The radio will actually operate, should operate, at least eight or 10 hours in normal use on an incident,” a U.S. official explained to one of the large groups cycling through different training stations.
They’re all experienced firefighters, but there are some differences that make pre-deployment training important.
“Tomorrow, really exciting that the crews will be out on these engines learning a different type of big vehicle with a steering wheel on the wrong side,” said Sam Quigley, international liaison for the mobilization.
This group joins a smaller contingent of 74 Aussies and Kiwis who arrived earlier this month. Now more than 300 are fighting large blazes across the West, a milestone in the 20-some years the three countries have been sharing resources.
“It is absolutely the largest contingent Australia and New Zealand have provided to the U.S. at any one time,” Quigley said.
The sharing is aided by the fact that our hot months are their cold months.
“I came from minus 1 Celsius when I jumped on a plane to come over three weeks ago,” Quigley recounted. “We're in the dormant stage of our winter, and we have the skill and resources, so [we’re] only too willing to provide our friends with the resources right now in a time of need.”
Staying safe amid intense season
And the need is great. The U.S. has been at Preparedness Level 5 – the highest on the official scale of fire activity and resource scarcity – and has been there since mid-July. So far this year, some 7.5 million acres have burned – the highest figure since at least 2011.
Fires have torn through neighborhoods, from Washington to Colorado to Georgia.
More than a dozen firefighters have been killed.
“We too operate in very hazardous, dangerous conditions,” Quigley said. “Today and tomorrow is predominantly focused on just that: making sure that our crews are the safest and most proficient in operating all safety systems and features.”
That includes learning how to deploy fire shelters. Those are bivouac-like sacks that can give firefighters a chance to survive when overtaken by flames. Quigley explains that they aren’t common back home. Instead, firefighters often turn to their specially outfitted vehicles for last-resort protection.
So, the firefighters gave it a go with neon green and orange practice shelters. The goal was to scramble under the shelters in less than 30 seconds. No firefighter ever wants to deploy their shelter, but they do save lives.
“You can feel, if the wind was whipping around, you've got a nice grip on those inner handles,” one of the instructors told a trainee on the inside of a shelter. “Well done.”
Emerging from one of the fire shelters, one of the trainees gave their review: “It felt quite comfortable,” he joked. “Under these conditions.”
Return the favor
NIFC spokesperson Jessica Gardetto said big fires could be burning for weeks to come, especially in the Pacific Northwest, where many of the firefighters are being sent.
“This year likely feels different to a lot of folks,” she said, adding that many of the season’s blazes “have been in very populated areas where there are a lot of homes that have been threatened.”
Low snowpacks, drought and hot weather fueled this intense season. But once it calms down, Quigley – the international liaison – said the U.S. may well get a chance to return the favor.
“I have no doubt we'll be calling upon our friends for our season ahead,” he predicted.
“This is something that, looking towards the future, we will likely continue to do as we see fire activity at this level for this long amount of time,” Gardetto said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.