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21 Canadian firefighters miss spending Christmas holidays with family to help fight Australian bushfires

It has been announced that the firemen were scheduled to depart on December 4  from Vancouver for an expected 38-day deployment in Australia. 
UPDATED JAN 22, 2020
(Source : Getty Images)
(Source : Getty Images)

A group of Canadian firefighters has proven that they are the real-life superheroes as they sacrifice precious time with their families during the Christmas holidays as they help their allies fight bushfires in Australia this year. 

After Australian officials reportedly submitted an official request to the Winnipeg-based Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre on Friday, November 29, for assistance in fighting the growing bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland, it was announced that 21 Canadian firemen were scheduled to depart on December 4, from Vancouver for an expected 38-day deployment in Australia. 

The firefighters will be flying over from Canadian provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Parks Canada and Manitoba. 

Fire crews wait at a property along Putty road as the fire front approaches on November 15, 2019 in Colo Heights, Australia. (Getty Images)

"We are pleased to help the people of Australia as they face these devastating fires, especially since Manitoba has been on the receiving end of help from friends and neighbors when wildfires and other natural disasters hit our province...There’s nothing more Manitoban than offering a helping hand when someone else is in need," Brian Pallister, premier of Canadian province Manitoba, said, Daily Mail reported. 

The firefighters will be part of the incident management team in Australia and their roles will include planning, aviation, and operations. The Canadian firefighters chosen for this task were experienced with a special set of skill sets to tackle such wildfires. 

The group of firemen will initially land in Sydney and fight fires in New South Wales, with additional crews potentially being sent over in the months to follow. This also means that they will be missing the upcoming festive season.

However, a senior member of the Canadian contingent from Edmonton Morgan Kehr said that it was not a bother. "Certainly nobody wants to be away from family at this time of year, but Australia has been in Canada four times and helped us in our time of need and it’s nice to be able to reciprocate," he said, City News 1130 reported.

"Because we have offset fire seasons, this is one of the sacrifices the guys are taking to reciprocate with Australia."

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