'When our mates need help, Australia is there': Fire crew from Down Under deployed in Alberta

With wildfires burning across Alberta, firefighters defending communities under threat will be getting some help from Down Under.

Crews from Australia are bound for Alberta to help in the battle against more than 60 fires raging across the province.

In a post to social media, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked the firefighters for their service during their upcoming deployment

"When our mates need help, Australia is there," Albanese said. 

"Thank you to our brave Aussie firefighters heading to help battle the Alberta wildfires in Canada."

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia said a group of their firefighters and specialists from Southern Highlands has deployed to Canada for five weeks.

The 96-strong contingent boarded a flight to Canada Sunday and will provide critical expertise and support to the Canadian authorities "in their time of need," the service said in a post to its official Facebook page. 

The deployment is in response to a request from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, the service said.

'What friends do'

The Australian High Commissioner to Canada, Kate Logan, said the crews "are on their way to support their Canadian colleagues battle wildfires in Alberta."

She said such overseas deployments build on the countries' proud co-operation under the Australia/Canada Memorandum of Understanding on emergency management, but "more importantly, it's what friends do."

Australia also sent firefighters to Canada in 2024 to help fight a massive wildfire that forced the evacuation of Jasper National Park, as well as other fires earlier that month in British Columbia.

The Yukon government, meanwhile, says it is sending 20 firefighters to fight wildfires in Alberta and will be there for nearly three weeks.

According to the Alberta government, more than 1,000 Alberta firefighters are currently battling wildfires across the province and help has already come from far away as conditions grew volatile in recent weeks.

In an update on the wildfire response on Friday, the province said firefighters and aircraft from British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Washington State, Oregon and Idaho had already been deployed in Alberta to assist on the front lines.

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As out-of-control wildfires threaten communities across central and Western Canada, thousands of people have been forced out of their homes across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta — but even in the face of mandatory evacuation orders and potential danger, some people may not go willingly, or at all.

Across Canada, from northwest Ontario to British Columbia, hundreds of wildfires continue to burn, forcing thousands of people from their homes.

In Alberta, nearly 3,000 people remain displaced and, as of Tuesday, seven out of the province's 65 wildfires were considered an imminent threat to nearby communities.

As of Tuesday, more than 617,300 hectares of Alberta forest and farmland has been consumed.

In all, 544 fires have sparked in the province since winter, in what has proven to be an explosive and destructive start to wildfire season across the west.