No doubt you’ve heard by now that Australia is in trouble. Fires are raging across almost the entire country, and both the inhabitants there and others all across the globe abroad are struggling to find a way to help the situation.
Most of us ordinary people are trapped watching the difficult footage through our televisions and computers – but this week, some extraordinary people with a special ability took the next step that the rest of us wish we could: getting into the heat of things and putting the fires out themselves. We’re talking about the wonderful firefighters from the United States and Canada who flew across the world to make a difference.
In the midst of this difficult time for Australia, there aren’t many people who can make a difference like hands-on firefighters can. But the work is not so simple.
Temperatures in the burning regions are stretching above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and hot winds blowing at up to 55 miles per hour are making matters a whole lot worse – by providing the worst conditions to fight in, and spreading the fire ever further all the while. While most civilians are being ushered out of the areas on fire, the firefighters are going in head- and hose-first.
On top of that, a second “mega-blaze” has formed in New South Wales from three smaller fires that combined together. It’s now stretching across 640,00 hectares in total. 27 people have already been killed, and more than 25.5 million acres of land burned as a result of these recent fires.
Although firefighters from the U.S. haven’t accepted missions in Australia since 2010, this is no doubt the time to make an exception. Around 100 firefighters from both the U.S. and Canada have already arrived, and another 140 are on their way as well. Upon landing at the Sydney International Airport this week, cheers raged through the airport to celebrate their arrival.
In the meantime, thousands of people are participating in climate protests across Australia’s major cities.
“If you can get out, you should get out, you shouldn’t be in the remote and forested parts of our State,” Andrew Crisp, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, said according to NBC News. The emergency warning affects more than 240,000 people in the state of Victoria alone.