美国国家公共电台 NPR Western Fire Crews Get An Assist From Australia And New Zealand

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right, these big wildfires keep raging in Oregon and here in California. In southern Oregon, where temperatures are forecast to break 100 every day through Thursday, the Taylor Creek 1 Fire is the largest of several blazes. And in Northern California, the Carr Fire has been blamed for seven deaths. And the Ranch 2 and River fires have combined to form the Mendocino Complex Fire, which is now - get this - considered the largest in the history of California.

Firefighters, as you can imagine, are stretched to the breaking point across the region. Crews are getting help from the military. They also now have an international assist from Australia and New Zealand. Teams from those countries spent the weekend in Idaho training before being deployed 3 to the West Coast. Matt Guilhem of Boise State Public Radio met some of the crews and sent this report.

MATT GUILHEM, BYLINE 4: In a big field at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, training specialist Matt Skudlarek (ph) leads a practice involving personal fire shelters. Deploying 5 one is a decision of absolute last resort when a fire is closing in.

MARK SKUDLAREK: All right, you've made that decision. Let's go for it. Drop those packs. Drop those packs.

GUILHEM: The firefighters hustle 6 down the field, only to drop and wrap themselves in what looks like a cross between a bright orange tarp and a sleeping bag. For most, it's the first time using a shelter. While standard issue here, they're uncommon 7 in Australia and New Zealand. Peter McKechnie is the liaison 8 between the two South Pacific nations and the U.S. He says the personnel that have travelled halfway 9 around the world aren't the rank and file.

PETER MCKECHNIE: They're all supervisory in some ways. There's people looking after helicopters, people looking after crews. So it is a mix in terms of the skills that have come across.

GUILHEM: McKechnie says the firefighting partnership 10 between Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand dates back more than 50 years. He says ties are strong between the three nations and that the U.S. has answered the other countries' calls for assistance in the past.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Much better...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Unintelligible) small, I think.

GUILHEM: At a big warehouse 11 across the base, another group of firefighters are getting gear in what looks like a buffet 12 line of equipment. Taking in the scene is Chris Eagle, the liaison officer from the Melbourne area. He says fighting fires Down Under is similar to here, but there are some differences. Take the terminology 13.

CHRIS EAGLE: We were laughing because if we ask for a tanker 14 at home, we get a truck with wheels on it. If you ask for a tanker in America, you'll get an airplane to drop water on top of you. So it's things like that that, if don't know those little things, it gets a bit embarrassing when you get the wrong thing that you didn't think were coming.

GUILHEM: Nearby, rolling up an olive drab mat into his gear, is Dan McAndrew. He's going to be a strike team leader, overseeing a group of U.S. firefighters.

DAN MCANDREW: I want to get into it - ready to get out there and do what we can. Hopefully help local guys, give them a bit of a break - they've been going for quite some weeks now. So...

GUILHEM: Whether he goes to Oregon or California, he'll be relieving people who need it. Crouched 15 down by McAndrew, stuffing things into her pack, is Tamsyne Harlen from the small Australian town of Bega.

TAMSYNE HARLEN: Its famous for cheese and Vegemite.

GUILHEM: An aviation expert, it's Harlen's first time fighting fires in the U.S.

HARLEN: At this stage, it's a lot of - what are we doing, and where are we going? I'm looking forward to just getting out there and really getting the job done and seeing how we can help you guys.

GUILHEM: She has questions, but she's animated 16 by the same eagerness as the rest of the group to ship out. One thing she's well aware of is the danger, but she doesn't focus on that because it won't help her do the job. She falls back on her decade of training from back home and her crash course this weekend in Idaho.

For NPR News, I'm Matt Guilhem in Boise.

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