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New Zealand military helping in fight against Tasmanian fires

Xinhua, February 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The New Zealand military has joined the fight against bushfires in the remote northwest of Australia's island state of Tasmania, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) announced Tuesday.

Five experienced NZDF firefighters - four from the army and one from the air force had been deployed to help battle the state's raging bush fires over the next three weeks, Air Commodore Kevin McEvoy, Acting Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said in a statement.

They formed part of a 43-strong contingent from New Zealand that is helping Tasmania's fire crews fight the fast-moving blaze.

"They are working in arduous conditions in forest and rural environments," McEvoy said.

New Zealand liaison officer Tim Mitchell, who is based in Hobart, said the NZDF firefighters worked in remote areas near the town of Zeehan on Tasmania's west coast on Sunday.

"They have since been shifted to Arthur River in Tasmania's far northwest, where the wildfires are threatening local communities, and are working 11 to 12-hour shifts," Mitchell said in the statement.

Dry lightning strikes since mid-January have sparked more than 71 fires across Tasmania and authorities have since turned to interstate and New Zealand agencies for help.

The fires have so far scorched about 107,000 hectares, including 26,000 hectares of World Heritage-listed wilderness. Endit