Firefighter returns from wildfire battle

Tauranga's TECT Park ranger Jarron McInnes is home after a month fighting Canada's worst wildfire season in 20 years. Photo / Supplied

Tauranga's TECT Park ranger Jarron McInnes is home after a month fighting Canada's worst wildfire season in 20 years.

The experienced rural fire fighter was chosen as one of 16 New Zealanders to relieve the management team co-ordinating a major fire in the state of Alberta.

The fire stretched across 83,000ha - five times the size of Tauranga - with a perimeter that stretched further than Tauranga to Wellington. The New Zealanders co-ordinated a team of 200 firefighters on the ground, with a daily running cost of $500,000.

It was just one of about 49 fires burning in that state, each with its own teams and costs.

"When the first call went out for international help, Alberta was on fire."

Helicopters were used like utes, he said, flying over the fire most days to monitor its movement.

"When a fire starts and hits the trees, it's 'bang' ... We saw how quickly things can evolve ... "

Pine is a common native tree in Canada and very flammable, he said.

"Up 10 to 15m there's a lot more wind and that's how they [flames] travel so fast."

Mr McInnes was recruited as the supply officer - managing gear, resources and equipment.

For the first 14 days, his team was based in a camp a long way from the fire, for safety.

They were relieving the Canadian team who were taking a well-deserved break.

"They were going hard for two months before we go there and it was their school break so they wanted time with their families."

The New Zealand team made a big impact on the fire, Mr McInnes said.

"We left that fire in a great state. There were no flames visible."

The team had two days off to recover and sight-see before going to co-ordinate a smaller fire, about 13,000ha, for the next two weeks, co-ordinating a team of 60 Mexican firefighters.

Every few days they would fly over another 50,000ha fire that had jumped the border from British Columbia.

"Their policy is if there isn't a town or city in the way, they let it burn.

"Seeing fires on this scale is just amazing ... Canada is like the Mecca of rural fires."

"We were treated like rockstars. People were buying us meals ... We were talking with one lady and then she went away and came back with a whole box of doughnuts for us."

It was easy to fit into the Canadian fire-fighting style becauseNew Zealand fire fighters were trained the same way, he said.

As the fires began to die down in Canada, they flared up in California and the team were asked, unofficially, if they wanted to continue on. Most, including Mr McInnes, returned to be with their families.