If it weren’t for the families dropping off treats to the fire control centre, Dec. 25 might have felt like just another work day to Eric Antifaeff, a B.C. firefighter spending the holidays helping to battle Australia’s deadly wildfires.
Antifaeff is one of 13 highly trained staff from the B.C. Wildfire Service who were deployed to Australia in December to help with planning and overall management of the wildfires.
He spent his Christmas Day Down Under travelling to a control centre in the small town of Wauchope, on Australia’s east coast between Sydney and Brisbane. A light rain dampened fires somewhat, and many firefighters had the day off, though not Antifaeff.
“It was just a small group in the fire-control centre up in Wauchope, and then they actually brought everyone in — so like the pilots flying the helicopters and planes, and even the people fuelling them. They brought them all in and we had a big Christmas lunch all together,” Antifaeff said.
The 40 C weather on Dec. 25 was new to Antifaeff, who is from Kamloops. He’s used to snowy Christmases at the ski hill. Instead, he was invited to a pool party and a game of cricket to celebrate the holiday, but he couldn’t make it.
Although it’s his first Christmas away from home and his family, Antifaeff said it was an easy decision to head to Australia to help.
Australian firefighters came to B.C.’s aid during busy seasons in 2017 and 2018, and this is the first time Australia has asked for help from Canada since 2009.
“Being able to repay the favour helped with the decision,” he said.
Australia has roughly 1,100 firefighters working to extinguish the fires, according to the province. The majority of firefighters working in rural areas are volunteers, Antifaeff said.
“They’ve been going for a long time now. They’re getting tired,” he said.
In Canada, Antifaeff works year-round with the provincial wildfire service in training and recruitment, and spends most of his summers fighting fires.
In Australia, he’s working as an air attack supervisor, managing helicopters and small planes that are dropping fire retardants.
“I go out in a helicopter and I provide intelligence — letters, photos or GPS data,” he said.
Antifaeff left Canada on Dec. 3 with 21 other Canadians — six others from B.C. — for a 38-day stint in Australia. A second wave of 30 Canadian firefighters went over on Dec. 19, including six from B.C.
Antifaeff said he’s looking forward to returning home in early January and a belated Christmas celebration with his family.
“As nice as it is to avoid some of winter, I also would like to catch a bit of winter, and just get back to normal life,” he said.
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