'The ember storm went for 35 kilometres': Sask. firefighter back from Australia describes fires

Phane Ray won't soon forget the devastation he saw while battling wildfires in Australia for the past 38 days.

"A lot of the country was up in fire for sure," said Ray, a force protection officer from Île-à-la-Crosse.

"The hardest thing for us that we saw is just a lot of people that are losing homes."

Ray and fellow firefighter Kevin Buettner left behind 40 C heat and hundreds of fires still burning on the country's east coast. They arrived in Saskatoon Thursday night to ice, snow and –30 C weather.

There are still nine firefighters from the province down under as part of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA). They are part of nearly 100 Canadian fire experts who have been sent to Australia to help in the fight against one of the worst wildfire seasons the country has ever seen.

Buettner, a fire technician from Creighton who helped co-ordinate heavy equipment, described how one of the fires raced up an escarpment.

"The ember storm went for 35 kilometres," he said. "So just a massive spread of embers and fire over the landscape and you just can't get everywhere at the same time."

Buettner said the types of plants in Australia, along with drought, made for a perfect firestorm.

"The gum trees have a real loose bark," he said.

Ray said the vegetation that fuels the fires is a lot different than here in Saskatchewan.

"There is a lot of hardwoods down there and a lot of that stuff just continuously burns," Ray said. "It could rain one day (and) green up and then about a week later, with the heat again, it's burning right over again. 

"Those days of 40 degree weather, winds that are howling up to 100 kilometres an hour. Stuff just dries so much quicker, burns so much faster."

Ray, like all the other Canadian firefighters that went to Australia, volunteered to go to Australia through the Canadian Interagency Firefighting Centre (CIFC). 

"It's always been a kind of a dream to go there, not so much to fight fire, but just to go down there and see the country," he said. "This was a good opportunity to go there and help people."

He said they were warmly welcomed everywhere they went.

"Every community that you stopped and talked to someone right away they recognized who we were. There were hugs, there was laughter. They were very welcoming to us."

Buettner said it's hard to describe the magnitude of the destruction.

"There is a lot of damage done. A lot of structural damage things, like that," he added.

"It's hard to take, but they're sure a resilient group over there. They are bouncing back, doing things to help their neighbours."

Buettner said he is impressed that almost all of the Aussies fighting the fires are volunteers.

"It's heartwarming just to see how many people there are doing it just to help out their neighbours and friends, and the country for that matter."

Saskatchewan has received help from Australian firefighters four times in the past under an international agreement.

There are about 135 fires burning in New South Wales, 50 of which are not contained. Twenty people have died in the bush fires across Australia in recent weeks, including three volunteer firefighters.