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First Nations Wildfire to Assist Australian Indigenous Peoples

Tuesday, 14 January 2020 15:21

Yukon First Nations Wildfire (Courtesy of YFNW)

Get ready for a 70-degree temperature change. Chad Thomas and Jordan Profeit of the Yukon First Nations Wildfire are headed down to Australia tomorrow to help battle the blazes on the east coast of the country.

Yukon First Nations Wildfire has been working with non profit Tahltan Strong to set up a group of ambassadors to go from the Yukon to see what kind of aid relief is possible for Australia.  The goal is to send money, supplies and experienced individuals to help out the indigenous peoples in Australia affected by the fires.  The project is now seeing 2 First Nations Wildfire Fighters flying to Australia to assist in the relief efforts and assess whether more firefighters will be sent.

Tahltan Strong is a First Nations non-profit that was formed as a result of the devastating fires in Telegraph Creek in 2018.  When the group members saw the devastating fires taking place in Australia this season, it brought back many of the same feelings as during the northern BC fires, and they decided to get involved.

Thomas is the CEO of Yukon First Nations Wildfire and he says not only is this a chance to help the indigenous people of Australia, but he believes there is plenty to be learned from the traditional knowledge there as well.  He says that many of the techniques being used to manage and fight wildfires are new, but that doesn’t mean that old ideas are not useful – sometimes more so.  Thomas highlighted the fact that before colonialism the first nations people were the stewards of the land, both in Canada and in Australia.  He says many of the techniques used to reduce risk and manage fires still have importance today.

Thomas also pointed out that even though Australia is far away, the Yukon’s forests face many of the same risks when it comes to devastating fires.   He says that here in the Yukon basically all the preventative measures are being done, but that still significant risk exists.  Thomas says there are lots of good ideas being implemented in Australia, both from a scientific point of view and a traditional methods point of view.

The firefighters held a goodbye ceremony today at Elijiah Smith before their 24-hour trip to Australia.

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