A second group of 21 New Zealand firefighters, including some from the Bay of Plenty, are leaving today for Alberta, Canada, to help fight wildfires burning across the province.

This Bravo contingent is made up of four five-person arduous firefighting crews, including five personnel from the Department of Conservation, and a liaison.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand national commander Russell Wood says seven specialist personnel landed in British Columbia last week.

“This second contingent will deploy for approximately five weeks. They’ll be firefighting in tough conditions, working hard to keep the communities of Alberta safe,” he says.

More than 860 wildfires are burning across Canada as of 8am yesterday and 134 of these are burning across Alberta.

The conditions are challenging, with high heat warnings across western Canada contributing to the rapid spread and increased intensity of the wildfires.

“Given the scale of the emergency in western Canada, it’s likely we’ll receive further requests for support,” Russell says.

Fire and Emergency takes the responsibility of providing international firefighting support seriously, but there is also value in using it to improve firefighters’ skills.

“These deployments are extremely valuable for our firefighters and firefighting specialists. It gives them experience in different environments that they can bring back home,” Russell says.

Fire and Emergency deployed personnel are from Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Nelson Marlborough. The five DOC personnel are from Taranaki, Nelson Marlborough, Mid-South Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

- SunLive