With wildfires ablaze in Australia, and a state of emergency going into effect in New South Wales today, hundreds of volunteer firefighters are on their way down under.

One firefighter from the Foothills has been aiding local fire rescue efforts for a little while now.

Graham Trenholm, an active firefighter with High River Fire and the Foothills Fire Department, has been in Australia for around the past six weeks.

"He's super passionate about wildland fires," said Brittany Ptolemy, a community firefighter in Okotoks.

Ptolemy is a close friend and colleague of Trenholm's. The two have been fighting fires together for just over nine years, and she does her best to keep in touch with Trenholm while he's in Australia.

"Every summer for the last five or six years that's what he's been doing for work. He saw the fires going on, and applied online and they ended up bringing him over."

She says Trenholm has been working long days in 40 degree weather fighting the fires, and advanced techniques are required to keep the ferocious blazes at bay.

"They're dropping foam from planes, which is highly efficient, but very, very costly," Ptolemy said. "Here in Alberta, we usually use that as a last resort when the fire has gotten away from us."

She says the manpower fighting these blazes is more than she's ever seen in Alberta.

As far as Trenholm's safety while fighting the fires in Australia, Ptolemy says she's confident in his abilities.

"I definitely worry about him, I worry about all of them. It's a really dangerous situation," she said.

"However, I know Graham personally has got great experience and is trained really well in fighting this kind of a fire. So I'm just really proud that he's over there trying to help out. He's actually one of the best guys I know."

 

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