NSW and WA deploy firefighters to Canada
Two Australian states will send dozens of firefighters and emergency services volunteers to Canada to help it battle destructive summer fires in British Columbia.
NSW will send 38 specialists, with 17 Western Australians joining in.
"The people of NSW know only too well the sense of devastation and heartbreak being felt by our friends in Canada, where hundreds of fires are being fought," NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said on Tuesday.
"I know the contribution of our specialist personnel will be invaluable and I know our counterparts in Canada welcome our people, just like we feel supported when they send their teams to help us in our time of bushfire crisis."
The deployment includes 22 experts from the NSW Rural Fire Service, 10 from Fire and Rescue NSW and three from the NSW State Emergency Service.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Canadian province of British Columbia and thousands have been evacuated as nearly 300 wildfires tear through the region.
NSW has also sent 'Marie Bashir' - an RFS-owned air tanker - to the US on a 45-day deployment.
