Another 70 U.S. firefighters are heading to Australia to help battle the wildfires that have been devastating the island country for months.
Officials with the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise say three, 10-person incident management teams are leaving Thursday, and two, 20-person hand crews will be going in the days ahead.
To date, the center has sent 166 people to Australia, officials said, adding that 20 recently returned after serving about a month-long rotation. Roughly a dozen of the firefighters who’ve served so far are from Idaho, including two BLM firefighters from Idaho Falls, Battalion Chief Kris Bruington and Engine Capt. Farron Kunkel, the Post Register recently said.
Magicvalley.com reported Clay Stephens, a safety and training officer for the BLM Twin Falls District, also went.