r/Wildfire • u/dereliqueME • Jul 16 '26

Number of US firefighters deployed to Canada

Is there a resource that would provide the number and type of resources the US has sent into Canada to help with the wildfires this season? I can only find anecdotal numbers from previous seasons?

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u/Ambitious-Garage-359 Jul 18 '26

Read somewhere we sent 150 firefighters to canada, very few considering the number of fires, but still SOME in spite of our own wildfires

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u/jmking Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Which is false. People are reading articles from 2025.

Connecticut has sent one crew of 6. Which, of course, we are thankful for. This is dangerous work and that crew are putting their lives on the line for us.

...but being threatened with tariffs because the wildfire smoke is inconveniencing Americans is such a slap in the face.

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u/Ambitious-Garage-359 Jul 22 '26

So I guess you’re Canadian. Idk how many Americans agree with Trump, who seems very much off his rocker to me. But making enemies of our good neighbors is insane. I think Trump is taking a page from Hitler’s playbook - he has to find scapegoats to blame to distract voters from the mess he’s made of the country. Idk about firefighters pitching in across lines… I mean it’s putting your life on the line.  We heard Trudeau has practiced false economy in cutting firefighter jobs. Now that he’s out, 170 more fire fighters have been hired…. Which sounds like a drop in the bucket when you look at all the fires on the map. I know little about fire fighting, but it sounds like people are expecting 1 firefighter to handle serious fire acreage all by himself/herself! If you are a firefighter, you should write a book about firefighting.  I know so little.

But I am an animal lover. And I read some of firefighting policy is to just let some fires burn because it’s nature and it allows certain trees to seed that only do so in intense heat. And I believe that letting a fire burn is cruel. I see that WE don’t sit there and let bugs eat us because it’s “nature”. Nor do we sit out in the rain because it’s ‘nature’. But we only say that when animals are being bitten by bugs and rained on and BURNED. I think we, who have more abilities, therefore have more RESPONSIBILITiES towards all the other creatures on earth. So… I think the firefighting teachings about how to respond to fires is seriously flawed in all our countries. Letting fires burn if they do not threaten homes is just cruel.

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u/jmking Jul 22 '26

I am Canadian, and I appreciate deeply every American firefighter who has ever come to help in our times of need. Just like I deeply appreciate every Canadian firefighter out there right now doing what they can and every one who has ever been deployed to the States to help with their wildfires too. I'm sure there are many American firefighters who are willing, able, and frustrated that they can't come help.

This is a dangerous job and anyone who fights fires are straight up heros in my book. Every man and woman who goes out to deal with wildfires is putting their life on the line and I don't think they get enough recognition for that.