As Canadian Forces start their tour of Australia helping to fight massive devastating forest fires, a member of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has just returned to Canadian soil.
Dan Johnson is a Fire Operations Supervisor with the MNR and says the Australian landscape was vastly different than what crews were used to back home in northern Ontario.
“Ontario is relatively flat and Australia had some topography that made it challenging for suppression planning, the Australian weather itself they’ve been experiencing an early fire season. There were several days of higher temperatures and high winds,” explained Johnson.
The MNR Fire Operations Supervisor says they also had to contend with eucalyptus trees.
“It has a sap that is very flammable and volatile, and its bark can hold an ember and with the wind, it can carry over long distances,” Johnson says.
MNR Crews Going To Australia
