Experienced Central firefighters Ewan Richmond and Tony Smith have returned after fighting wildfires for more than a month in Alberta, Canada.

The pair were part of a second group of firefighters who arrived home on July 14 after spending five weeks battling wildfires currently raging across the country.

Ewan said it was an amazing experience and they formed “cool friendships” with a wide range of firefighters from South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

“We ended up with 40 South Africans… we’d be going through the bush and they would be singing, we’d join in and pretend we were dancing. There would be whoops and hollas, it was really cool.”

The group of international firefighters, all close friends after spending weeks together. 

The pair completed two stints of 14 days working, followed by two days off.

Ewan said they were big days starting at 5.30am and getting back to camp at 6pm.

“We would drive for one and a half or two hours to where we would work, sometimes we were collected by helicopter, or flown back to camp at the end of the day.”

A lift to work in Slave Lake area or back to camp via helicopter. PHOTO: Ewan Richmond 

Tony said they were “hot spotting and coal trailing”, working on the clean up side after one of the main fires had gone through. 

“Fatigue management systems are in place so we don't get too tired. Some bad weather and rain meant we couldn't go out for a couple of days.”

Firefighters on the ground in Slave Lake. 

The contingent, made up of 21 Fire and Emergency personnel, departed on June 7 to provide specialist wildfire support at the request of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).

The deployment group Tony and Ewan were a part of at Auckland Airport. 

Unseasonably warm and dry weather saw this year’s wildfire season in Canada begin earlier than expected and as a result CIFFC sought international assistance to fight the wildfires.

Ewan said the briefing given to firefighters explained the past Canadian winter “never had a lot of snow”.

“When spring came and the trees were still dormant with no sap… dry lightning strikes and the trees lit up like matchsticks.” 

Both Tony and Ewan said Canada’s vastness was astounding.

“It’s so huge, you felt miniscule. We flew up to 1,100 metres and in every direction you looked, horizon to horizon, it was just trees,” Ewan said. 

The Lesser Slave Lake is 104km long and could be mistaken for a sea due to its size (1,168km sq), dwarfing Central’s Lake Dunstan which is 40km long (26 km sq).

Wildlife viewing was another highlight, with the pair seeing a bear on the side of the road, a moose, deer, squirrels, a black bear running between a couple or firefighters, and a mother bear up a tree with her cubs. 

Tony said one local Canadian woman broke down when she thanked them, having lost her husband and then living through the fires.

“She was broken, you give them a cuddle and then you’ve got to do your bit and assure them you’ve dampened everything down [properly].”

As of mid July there have been over 3,900 fires in western Canada and more than 9.5 million hectares burned.

"To put that into perspective, the North Island of New Zealand is 11.5 million hectares," Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) acting national commander Brendan Nally said.

"These fires are serious. Conditions are challenging for the crews especially with extreme heat combined with strong winds.

"Our crews are doing Fire and Emergency and their country proud with the hard mahi they have been putting in. We will continue to offer support to our friends in Canada and the response to these wildfires where possible," Brendan said.

A fourth FENZ contingent will join the third contingent in Alberta later this week.

Both Tony and Ewan have overseas firefighting experience. They assisted in the 2019/20 bushfires in New South Wales (NSW), and Tony went to Tasmania in 2019.

Last year both firefighters were awarded service medals for their outstanding contributions in NSW.

Tony said the deployment community of firefighters in New Zealand was a small group and it wasn't for everyone, but together with Ewan he is hooked.

“If you catch the bug that’s it.”

Ewan works for PGG Wrightson in-store and as a truck driver. He said Wrightson’s backing and support enabled him to take up opportunities to fight fires overseas.

A former employee of Tony’s at Junction Automotive came back from overseas to assist for a couple of weeks and manage workload.

He said was grateful for his team of people, and the understanding of clients back at home. 

“It is a long time to be away, and at short notice.”

Since May, Fire and Emergency has sent a total of 90 personnel at the request of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). The crew will join a third deployment in Canada and two crews have returned home to New Zealand.

Read more: Dunstan firefighters in the ground in Canada.

PHOTOS: Supplied