Yukon firefighters return home from battling U.S. blazes

More than a dozen Yukon firefighters returned to WhitehorseFridayafter being deployed to the U.S. states of Idaho and Washington.

Some were working 12-hour shifts on the fire lines for 45 of the 50days that they were assisting south of the border.

Most of the firefighters were in Idaho, which is experiencing one of its worst fire seasons on record. At one point, there were more than 1,000 firefighters from as far away as New Zealand battling the flames.

"There was high demand for our Yukon crew, simply because they are a Type 1 initial attack crew and they are multi-talented," saidSadie Jabbar, anagency representative with Yukon Wildland Fire Management.

"When you go down south, crews have specific tasks.Our crew, you can basically task them in anything and they are trained and certified for it."

Jabbar said crews from Yukon were scattered all over the northern regions ofIdaho.

Hesaid crews worked in extremely steep terrainwith temperatures approaching 40 C and relative humidity in the single digits. By the final few days, Jabbarsaidthe Yukon crews were worn out and ready to come home.

Division supervisor JimKathrein, who has been fighting forest fires since 1978, said Idaho residents were welcoming and grateful for the help.

"There were a lot of things there that made it enjoyable," he said."I think one of the biggest things was the treatment from the American public and the American people to us Canadians."

More Yukon staff are expected to return this week.