Gympie ranger Darrell Bell is part of an elite crew sent to Canada to help fight wildfires

An elite crew of Queensland rangers have been chosen for the first time to aid Canada in their wildfire flight, one of them is Gympie’s own.

An elite crew of Queensland rangers have been chosen for the first time to aid Canada in their wildfire flight, one of them is Gympie’s own.

A Gympie ranger is one of five rangers chosen to aid Canada in firefighting efforts, bring their unique experience from fighting bushfires in Australia.

It will be 42-year-old Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Gympie ranger Darrell Bell’s first time in Canada, a trip he had to pass rigorous fitness tests to ensure he was prepared for the conditions.

The team of five includes rangers from all over Queensland: Rob Miller from Mareeba, Paul Bufi from Cairns, John Hand from the Gold Coast, and Tim Baker from Toowoomba.

This year, Canada has had a record-breaking wildfire season and the Qld rangers will be joining teams of QFES already helping out on their third deployment since May 2023.

In total 66 fire fighters have been sent across, and the QFES and QPWS crew will step into unprecedented conditions, battling 31 new fires, 460 fires currently burning out of control and 7.2 million ha lost to date, QFES operational manger Clinton Neumann said.

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Rob Miller, Paul Bufi, John Hand, Tim Baker, Darrell Bell are the elite crew of Queensland rangers who have been chosen for the first time to aid Canada in their wildfire flight. Picture: (supplied)

The teams will be heading into a month of sleeping in tents on 12-hour shifts on the front lines of the wildfire, travelling to communities at-risk of fires after arriving in Edmonton, Alberta.

While they bring the essential skills and experience of their home front fight with bushfires, they will still be learning a lot from their Canadian counterparts around managing the rough terrain, changes in fire conditions and history, navigating wild animals and different weather conditions.

QPWS ranger in charge Paul Bufi was looking forward to bringing their practical skills in fire breaks, controlled and cultural burns to the Canadian landscape, but acknowledged the huge “learning curve” that was ahead of them.

Canada is currently facing a record-breaking wildfire season mostly concentrated in Alberta.

This will be the first time QPWS sends rangers to Canada; they hope to not only aid with the fire fighting efforts, but gain invaluable experience in responding to fire as they working alongside Canadian authorities and other fire fighters from around the world.

We wish Mr Bell, and his QPWS crew along with the QFES fire fighters a safe trip as they risk their lives and time to protect communities from the ongoing fires.