Firefighters from Jalisco Arrive in Edmonton to Help Battle Alberta Wildfires Caley Ramsay - Global News
go to original July 9, 2015

Fire crews from Jalisco, Mexico arrived in Edmonton Wednesday, July 8, 2015 to help battle wildfires in northern Alberta. (Quinn Ohler/Global News)

Dozens of firefighters have arrived in Edmonton from Mexico to help battle wildfires in northern Alberta.

Sixty-two firefighters arrived at Edmonton International Airport from Jalisco, Mexico Wednesday evening. After being briefed on the current wildfire situation, they will head up to help the 1,700 firefighers who have been working tirelessly for weeks to douse the blazes.

“The guys are good to go,” said firefighter Hector Trejo. “Our season just ended a couple weeks ago so we’re happy to help up here.

“Most of the guys, this is their passion - fight fires, get to know the forest - and what better way to do it than come to another country and help others.”

Fire crews from Jalisco have been helping battle fires in Alberta for the past 10 years; they’ve been called in to assist several times.

“We’ve been working with them on training and a number of different things,” said Geoffrey Driscoll, a wildfire information officer with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “What we did was we have brought their training standards up to our own, so that’s why we can have these firefighters here.”

As of Wednesday evening, there were 92 wildfires burning in Alberta, 33 of which were listed as out of control.

Read the rest at Global News

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