Posted on 08/22/2015 5:43:22 AM PDT by naturalman1975
FIREFIGHTERS from Australia and New Zealand are off to help counterparts battle more than 100 wildfires burning across the United States.
THE 71-strong contingent will head to Idaho from Sydney Airport on Sunday.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Don’t mean to be crass, but I wonder who’s paying for this. Whatever the case, the help is appreciated.
The Australian and New Zealand governments will cover most of the costs, but generally American entities wind up covering food and accommodation. This has happened quite a few times over the last couple of decades.
Thanks to all that help from your country....
And just to be clear - that is in both directions. Australian and New Zealand firefighters have gone to the US to fight major fires, and American firefighters have come to Australia to do so. It's mutual aid in action. It's basically an exchange of specialists and senior managers - it's generally not that hard to find enough front line people to fight the fires (I'm a volunteer firefighter myself) - it's the experts working out where they need to be, and coordinating them all that are in short supply, and it doesn't take long before those type of people are exhausted and need relief once major fires start.
Thanks for your comprehensive answers.
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