Canberra firefighters are on the front line of fires raging through British Columbia in Canada, working 12-hour days to try to contain some of the 148 separate blazes burning throughout the subalpine region.
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The fires burning through the interior plateau of north-western British Columbia where the Canberrans are located have engulfed 4000 hectares of forest but have not destroyed homes.
ACT Territory and Municipal Services has sent Brett McNamara and Andrew Halley from its ACT Rural Fire Service Parks Brigade to help as part of an 80-strong Australian contingent of firefighters responding to a request for assistance from the Canadian province.
The two men arrived almost a fortnight ago and have been working on large-scale backburning operations.
"We are using fire to fight fire," Mr McNamara said. "Where we have unburnt fuel in front of the fire, we will set up a containment line and we are burning from that into the head of the fire. That requires a lot of planning, and it can be very dangerous. You don't want the fire to escape.
"We are leading the backburning and I have never seen flame activity like this. It was a controlled environment but it just took off. There are about 200 hectares we have burned via helicopter ignition ships. The fire here is 4000 hectares, so 200 is a relatively small area."
Mr McNamara said Canadian firefighters had responded to Australian requests during times of need, including the devastating Victorian bushfires.
"I lost my house in 2003 in the Canberra bushfires," he said. "I know what it's like to have your home and possessions under threat, and knowing that people are coming to help you is an overwhelming feeling.
"We are here representing Australia and it's a real honour to do that. It really comes home when you walk down the street in uniform and people walk up to shake your hand and say thank you.
"They have not lost homes here because it is a very, very remote area where the fires are burning. But people come up almost with tears in their eyes because of the fear. It takes you back."
Mr McNamara said the forests mainly comprised conifer pines, many of which had been attacked by mountain pine beetles.
"Because they have had mild winters, these beetles survived over winter and have spent summer killing the pine trees. You have hectares of dead dry conifers," he said.
"These beetles are naturally occurring but are not being kept in check right now. People speak very openly here about climate change and the impact it's having on the fire season."
