Despite being in the midst of its own bushfire season, Australia has offered to help authorities in Los Angeles.
North American fire crews and aircraft were crucial when Australia faced its own unprecedented Black Summer fires, in 2019-20, and government minister Jenny McAllister has stressed that there is a “long history of cooperation between our countries on firefighting”.
“We are yet to receive any response for assistance… We’d assess, of course, our own needs. But we’ll do everything we responsibly can to help our colleagues in the United States if they ask us,” she told Sky News Australia on Friday morning, local time.
The breakout of fires in the middle of LA’s winter has caused anxiety here in Australia, which has a comparatively small aerial firefighting fleet and relies on leasing aircraft from others. That leaves the country increasingly exposed as the northern hemisphere fire seasons expands and cuts into ours.
There are currently more than a dozen fires blazing in the Australian state of New South Wales alone, although none of them are currently at emergency status.