US and Canadian crews join Australia firefighters

(10 Jan 2020) Wildfires that have raged across Australia for weeks slowed down last week with a cold weather front - but many fires still burn and communities across the nation are bracing for a heatwave on Friday.
In the bay of Eden on the south coast region of Australia, a navy ship waits to help with any evacuations if fires reach coastal communities and push people into the sea.
Winds from the Pacific and the arid interior are now converging over the fires, according to Kelwyn White of the Rural Fire Service.
Similar conditions last weekend ignited fires across the south coast, she explains.
At an operations centre in Moruya, firefighters are tracking blazes and working with local communities to respond to emergencies - all with the help of firefighters from the United States and Canada.
The US, Canada and New Zealand have sent hundreds of firefighters to help local crews battle the deadly wildfires.
The foreign crews have come as part of swap arrangements which have seen increasing cooperation between the countries during wildfire seasons.
Terrence Gallegos has been fighting fires for 22 seasons and is now an operations section chief in Santa Fe National Park, in the US state of  New Mexico.
The 39-year-old has been deployed to Australia for a month - a mission he signed up for eagerly, as Australian crews have helped him and his division in the US several times.
"It's a great opportunity to come out here and help our brothers and sisters from Australia and with their fire operations and just lend them a hand," he says.
John Mash has fought fires for 23 seasons in Ontario, Canada, where he is now a fire operations supervisor at the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The 42-year-old says a global firefighting community supports each other as fire seasons increase in length and severity.
"When we got the call we were all very pleased that we could help out as they have in the past," Mash says, explaining that back in 2018, 800 fires raged across Ontario, and Australians came over to help.
Lessons learned in a new environment - like the notoriously dangerous Australian bush - help strengthen communities back home in North America, Mash continues, adding: "It makes us a better firefighting agency."

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