South Coast national park firefighters sent to Canada

South Coast National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) firefighters have responded to a crisis call from their Canadian counterparts, with eight crew joining the battle against unprecedented wildfires.

Bombala-based Abbie Laurie-Rhodes recently returned home after spending five weeks as part of the Australian contingent assisting the Canadian Emergency Services.

Abbie is one of NPWS’ arduous firefighters, also known as remote area firefighters, who are transported by helicopter to the most inaccessible areas to help contain blazes that have so far burnt through more than 5 million hectares of Canadian forests.

Abbie worked along the Slims Creek Fire edge, putting out spot fires and removing fuel to stop the blaze from spreading.

Alongside chainsaws, hoses and pumps, Abbie’s five-person crew carried in extensive experience fighting bushfires in NSW national parks.

Seven of Abbie’s NPWS South Coast colleagues also volunteered to head to Canada when the call for help came in June, working alongside crews from Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.

With more than 1,200 trained firefighters, NPWS’ depth of experience is recognised by the Canadian Emergency Services who have called on our assistance five times over the past 10 years.

Since late June 2025, 47 NPWS staff have been deployed to Canada with the latest contingent expected home early September 2025.

Meanwhile Abbie has returned to the Bombala NPWS depot and is working on preparing hazard reduction operations on the south coast, when conditions allow.

Quotes attributable to NPWS Field Officer, Abbie Laurie-Rhodes:

“It was a very physically and mentally challenging deployment but a memorable one. I got to see some beautiful remote areas and met some amazing people.

“It’s a completely different way of fighting fires there, the fire behaves differently and the conditions we faced were unlike what we experience back home.

“For example, fire burning in wet muskeg swamps and hiking through permafrost, dense forests and deep mud. We had to adapt to new equipment and techniques while also using our homegrown experience.

“There were also some completely unexpected challenges. We’re used to snakes and spiders here but trekking into the wilderness knowing there were protective mother bears with their cubs definitely kept us on our toes.”