Team from New Zealand helping with wildfire recovery outside Halifax

Alastair Jeffrey was ready to get to work despite having just travelled 15,000 kilometres.

Donning a beige collared shirt emblazoned with the name of his humanitarian organization — Taskforce Kiwi — Jeffrey met with a resident whose home was recently destroyed in a devastating wildfire outside Halifax.

He said he listened attentively as the homeowner detailed the types of items they’d like to try to recover from the rubble.

“It’s been quite moving, meeting with these people and seeing their response,” said Jeffrey in an interview on Thursday outside the St. Margarets Bay Legion, where he and other volunteers are lodging.

“People are quite grateful that we’ve given up our time to come and do what we can to help.”

Jeffrey is one of seven volunteers who made the long journey from New Zealand this week to help with wildfire recovery efforts in Upper Tantallon and Hammonds Plains.

A makeshift incident command centre has been set up outside the St Margarets Bay Legion in Seabright, N.S. (Aly Thomson/CBC)

Taskforce Kiwi — a veteran-led charitable trust — will be supporting Team Rubicon Canada as they work with homeowners to sift through properties destroyed by the fast-moving fire that broke out May 28 in the subdivision of Westwood Hills.

They’re repaying the favour, as Team Rubicon travelled to New Zealand earlier this year after severe flooding in Auckland that was followed up weeks later by a cyclone that devastated parts of Hawke’s Bay.

Some members of the Ontario-based Team Rubicon Canada, also led by veterans, who were on the ground in New Zealand are helping with the wildfire relief efforts outside Halifax.

“So, there’s been a bit of a gathering of old friends here. It’s been an atmosphere of friends catching up,” said Jeffrey, adding that his team will be here for 10 days total.

Jeffrey, a veteran who now works in conservation and biosecurity, said his team is also interested in learning how to operate in an environment impacted by wildfires, since they are not as common in New Zealand, and to bring those skills back to his home country.

Rows of cots are set up inside the legion. Volunteers from Team Rubicon Canada and Taskforce Kiwi will be lodging there for the next week. (Aly Thomson/CBC)

“It’s quite surreal,” he said. “It’s one thing to see the damage in a report or on the news, but it’s another thing to see it first hand.”

Bryan Riddell, CEO of Team Rubicon Canada, said the two organizations have similar missions, and so they formed a relationship during Taskforce Kiwi’s inception in late 2022.

He said the partnership bolsters each organizations’ capabilities to provide humanitarian support globally.

“We want to be able to bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people in the shortest amount of time,” said Riddell, adding that the two teams learn from each other by working in different landscapes and environments.

“I think it means a step forward in building global resilience.”

He noted their work would not be possible without donations and support from non-profits, such as Airlink Flight, which was able to cover the cost of Taskforce Kiwi’s flights.

Coming to terms

On Thursday, a number of volunteers in grey shirts were chatting and laughing as they ate lunch at long tables inside the legion.

Outside, a makeshift incident command centre has been erected inside a rounded white tent. It’s where volunteers make calls to homeowners to set up site visits, and where plans are formed on how to approach sifting through their properties.

Jeffrey said although he arrived a month after the wildfire, emotions are still high among residents he has encountered.

“Sometimes you’re meeting with people who have lost everything so they’re quite emotional, but others are coming to terms with the event,” he said.

“We’re just trying to do the best we can to make this process easier for them.”

Riddell said Team Rubicon is halfway through its work order requests and plans to wind down operations in Halifax on July 8.