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Ontario has received assistance from more than 100 firefighters from Mexico to help combat the ongoing wildfires in the province. This is the first wave of international support received this season.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry announced that the Mexican firefighters arrived in Thunder Bay on Monday. Currently, there are 52 wildland fires burning in various parts of Ontario, with 19 of them still not under control.
Canada’s efforts to address the wildfires have involved deploying a total of 1,910 firefighters this season. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), along with its member agencies in the United States, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, and Costa Rica, have established resource-sharing agreements to facilitate such international cooperation.
Under these agreements, provinces and countries can request equipment, aircraft assistance, incident management teams, or additional fire personnel from CIFFC to fight fires at the ground level. International partners are then called upon to provide support.
Presently, Quebec and Alberta have also received international assistance from multiple countries including the United States, Spain, Portugal, France, South Africa, Chile, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and Australia to help combat the wildfires in their regions.
According to the ministry, the Mexican firefighters are awaiting a provincial briefing before being deployed to the northwest and northeast regions of Ontario to contribute to firefighting efforts.