By Tyler Wright
A local firefighter has returned from deployment in Canada after helping emergency services fight devastating wildfires currently ravaging the country.
Knox-based Forest Fire Management (FFMVic) firefighter and Hills resident Hannah Ransome was one of 46 Victorians, including 42 people from FFMVic and four people from the Country Fire Authority (CFA), who recently spent 35 days providing much needed relief to exhausted Canadian crews.
Ms Ransome returned to Melbourne on 30 June after working to mitigate a 125,000-hectare fire which had impacted forests and some paddocks at the Kimiwan fire complex in northern Alberta.
After starting off the day with a morning briefing, crews would receive a tasking and would then head out to the part of the fire they were assigned to; putting out burning ashbeds.
“We were working to protect the assets for the oil companies and the workers that were working in the area,” Ms Ransome said.
Canada has seen nine million hectares burned in 2023, according to Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
There were around 422 active wildfires across the country as of 29 June.
Canadian firefighting crews travelled to Australia to help during the 2019/2020 bushfires, and Ms Ransome said she was “honoured” to be able to return the favour.
“It was really good to learn off the local fire crew over there. They’re very experienced. They were very welcoming and friendly,” she said.
“The Canadian forest was very different to Australian forest, so we had to learn the different vegetation…with that came the wildlife as well… It was beautiful, lakes everywhere with beaver dams in them.
“They’ve got more water on the ground, so [there’s] a lot more use of bigger pumps and a lot more hose than we would use in Victoria because we just don’t have that much water.”
A total of 115 Victorians have travelled to Canada since 25 May as part of a wider Australian and New Zealand response, with all Australian states sending specialist support.
80 firefighters and incident management personnel from FFMVic have been deployed to Canada, 17 of which are from the Port Phillip region.
Crews have also been deployed from the United States, South Africa, France, Chile, Costa Rica, Portugal and Spain.
Emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp said it’s great to welcome home the first contingent of highly skilled crews who have provided invaluable support to their Canadian colleagues and their communities.
“This team of 46 have represented our state in the best possible way through helping our Canadian colleagues, as the Canadians supported us during the 2019/20 fires,” Mr Crisp said.
Forest Fire Management Victoria chief fire officer Chris Hardman said FFMVic has contributed 80 experienced campaign firefighters who have worked “incredibly hard” and made a “real difference” to the Canadian firefight.
“They’ve been supported by amazing incident management, vehicle support, logistics and communications personnel from our partner agencies across from Australia and New Zealand, who are working extremely well to integrate into the Canadian wildfire management system,” Mr Hardman said.
CFA acting chief officer Garry Cook said Victorians can be proud of the valuable contribution members continue to make to help protect Canadian communities from wildfires.
“Our CFA personnel are highly trained to assist in a wide range of emergencies and I thank this group for showcasing their expertise internationally and helping communities abroad,” he said.
Ms Ransome said she would “absolutely” participate in another international firefighting operation given the chance.
“You get used to the pressure and the intensity of the job,” she said.
“If I asked myself when I was at uni, when I was 20, I didn’t think I’d be fighting fires in Canada 11 years later.
“I really recommend this job to anyone. ”
Later this week, six people from FFMVic’s Port Phillip region are set to depart on deployment.
Victorians are reminded to never rely on one source for emergency information.
Official sources of emergency information include:
VicEmergency app
www.emergency.vic.gov.au
Local emergency broadcasters such as ABC local radio, commercial and select community radio stations, or SkyNews TV
The VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226
VicEmergency’s Facebook and Twitter accounts
