It's not often that you're battling out-of-control forest fires as wild bears threaten to kill you, but that's exactly what happened to Illawarra firefighter Andrew Sweeney.
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The volunteer firefighter has returned from a one-month deployment to Alberta, Canada where he was responsible for the safety of scores of other firefighters amid the inferno, and threats from wildlife.
The forest fires have forced the evacuations of entire towns and left behind a trail of destruction.
On one day, August 20, more than 35,000 residents were under an evacuation order and another 30,000 were under an evacuation alert.
"Everything you know about fire behavior, throw it out the window and start again. It's just totally different," he said.
Mr Sweeney is a NSW Rural Fire Service firefighter with 33 years experience. He's a Gerringong Brigade member and Illawarra Group Captain which sees him in charge of a number of local brigades.
He was sent to Paddle Prairie, north of Keg River, to help control fires raging through pine and spruce plantations, on never-ending flat expanses that, on some days, were being fanned by winds of 70km/h.
The area was so remote that crews were helicoptered in every day. They were dropped into an area with no fire trucks, few resources, they had to carry everything they needed - equipment, hoses, food and water.
Pine and spruce trees, like eucalypts, contain lots of oil, they ignite quickly.
"They burn really, really hot, but the good side of it is they burn fast so it burns through quicker," Mr Sweeney said.
It wasn't just fast-moving fires that crews were worried about, there were also bears, moose and bison.
"There were some few close calls with bears, mothers with their cubs. They'd just rear up in front of you and you just sort of wait for them to walk away," Mr Sweeney said.
"The mother's sort of telling you don't come any further so you don't.
There were black and brown bears, but Mr Sweeney only saw the black ones.
Winds whipped fires into a frenzy and fighting them was dangerous. Afternoon storms often rolled in, with dry lightning strikes hitting the ground all around them.
One day he and his crew became trapped.
"We were pretty much in a sort of precarious situation that if we didn't keep our situation awareness, we could have quite easily been overrun by fire in there," Mr Sweeney said.
"So, pretty hairy for the last few days."
On August 26 Illawarra RFS District Manager Martin Surrey left for a two-week deployment to Kamloops in British Columbia, Canada to continue firefighting efforts.
While there he'll be involved in logistics management which will see him in charge of assisting Australian firefighters.
"You always get the anxiety of the unknown, but I'm confident in our abilities," he said.
This may be his first international deployment, but Mr Surrey was holidaying in this area 12 months ago so is familiar with it.
"It's very close to the Rockeys There's a lot of pine trees and it's very mountainous and a very rough terrain," he said.
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Nadine Morton
Nadine Morton covers emergency services and breaking news for the Illawarra Mercury. She takes pride in regional journalism which she believes is crucial to informing our towns and cities. Have a story? Email her at nadine.morton@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Nadine Morton covers emergency services and breaking news for the Illawarra Mercury. She takes pride in regional journalism which she believes is crucial to informing our towns and cities. Have a story? Email her at nadine.morton@austcommunitymedia.com.au
