Pair of Australian aviation experts hard at work fighting fires in Shuswap region

A pair of Australian aviation personnel are helping coordinate efforts in the Shuswap region, fighting wildfires in the Adams complex.

Rolf Poole and Grahame Chevalley are a long way from home, both from New South Whales.

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They landed in B.C. around a week ago and both have experience fighting wildfires in their home country of Australia.

“The first challenge was getting over the jet lag. Essentially, the fire operations are very similar to Australia,” Poole said.

“The way we operate with aircraft, our safety procedures, (and) our firefighting procedures are all very similar. However, B.C.’s steep terrain can be quite challenging.”

Poole said their experience in Australia has prepared them to do their best in the Shuswap region.

“We are operating with very similar systems like incident management systems. It has allowed us to integrate very easily,” he said.

“Getting over people’s (Canadian) accents is one of the biggest hurdles. We wanted to come out and help our Canadian mates, they come down to Australia (to help).”

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Chevalley said his experience as a volunteer firefighter in New South Whales has allowed him to use that knowledge in the fight against some of B.C.’s most extreme wildfire situations.

“I’ve been in my volunteer roles for about 20 years now. We had a similar year, we had our worst fire season on record. The lose of property (back there) is similar to what we are seeing here,” Chevalley said.

Both help coordinate aviation assets in the fights against the Ross Moore Creek, Bush Creek East and other wildfires in the Shuswap region.

“(We help) come up with strategies and tactics with operations to ensure that the bucketing is going in the right place, the pilots are all safe, aircraft are all operating together and supporting the ground crews to make sure that we’re being effective,” Poole said.

The pair are a part of Australia’s largest-ever contingent of firefighting personnel deployed to help battle B.C.’s worst-ever wildfire season on record.

The 2023 season has shattered all previous records for the number of hectares burned, with more than 1.93 million hectares torched as of Aug. 25.

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