'I was recently asked to be involved in the debriefing of North American resources deployed to assist with Victoria's fires in both Gippsland and Hume regions.
Grateful for the opportunity, I was pleasantly surprised to recognise Jason Cottington, Wildfire Technician from Alberta's Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
Jason is based in the Slave Lake Wildfire Management Area, located in the central north of Alberta, a few hours northwest of the province capital, Edmonton.
I had first met Jason in 2015 during Australia's first deployment to Alberta as a member of the Forest New South Wales, forming part of the Australian contingent from several states and territories sent to assist with their wildfires.
The irony in bumping into Jason was not lost on either of us given at the time, Alberta was also facing an extreme, unprecedented and historic season.
Smoke spread across most of North America while more than 1.9 million hectares of forest had burned and almost 18,000 people were evacuated. And here we were at the debrief following Alberta's first international deployment to Australia following the unprecedented and historic events have impacted eastern Australia this season.
We had much to discuss, contrasting forest types, landscapes and their influences on fire, whilst also comparing our agency procedures and responses.
Most importantly, we discussed what we had individually learned from each experience and that we could take back to our respective agencies.
The ability to share knowledge and experiences with our international colleagues is one of the invaluable opportunities that these often-devastating seasons which scar the landscape and our communities may provide, helping us get a little closer.
Further to that, we each reflected on the opportunities to support our forest fire colleagues on the other side of the globe during a critical time of need, what we've learned from the opportunity, and how humbled we've been by the opportunity to do so.'
Page last updated: 21/02/20