BOISE, Idaho — There have been almost 5,000 fires in Canada in 2023, according to the Canadian Government.
The impacts of the fires have reached all over Canada and the smoke has drifted into much of the United States.
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There has been an international effort to send help to Canada, and that effort has been strong from the Gem State. Idaho sent several firefighters to areas all over Canada.
One of those firefighters was Randy Lamb, the assistant fire management officer with the Idaho City Ranger District.
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He's been fighting fires since he was eighteen, and spent over a decade as a Hot Shot in Idaho and Oregon.
“Comradery, the teamwork, and like I say helping the environment and helping the public, but a lot of it is you’re just a close-knit team. That just draws you in," Lamb said about what has kept him in firefighting for over two decades.
His career has taken him all across the country, and this summer it took him abroad for the first time. Lamb says Canada's need for help was apparent, as the country has had a historically troubling fire season. And it's not close to being over.
“They’ve been dealing with fires for two and a half months now, and they still have another two months that they know they’ll be dealing with fires," Lamb told Idaho News 6.
Lamb was excited to go, but while heading out he wondered how firefighting would be different in Canada, and how he'd have to adapt.
When he touched down and started working, he realized it was pretty much the same. He worked with crews from Canada, Mexico, and Australia during his time up North.
“The team aspect and taking care of each other, that just transferred straight across the border and it was just great interacting with those folks and getting to know how they do their process," Lamb said.
