‘It feels like home:’ New Zealand volunteers arrive in N.S. to help with wildfire recovery

Volunteers from Task Force Kiwi, a veteran-led disaster relief group, arrived in the Halifax area earlier this week to assist with wildfire recovery efforts.

A veteran-led organization from New Zealand has arrived in Nova Scotia to assist Team Rubicon Canada in its recovery efforts following the wildfires in the Halifax area.

Seven volunteers from the group, known as Taskforce Kiwi, arrived in the Tantallon area on Wednesday. They’re expected to stay in the region for about ten days to sift through the ashes of impacted homes in hopes of recovering valuables lost in the devastating fires.

Jenny Calder, one of the travelling volunteers, said the two humanitarian organizations originally connected in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, earlier this year after Cyclone Gabrielle, a severe tropical typhoon, devastated areas in the country’s northern region. Team Rubicon Canada had deployed personnel to offer support in April — now her taskforce is returning the favour.

“The teams are going out and they’re helping sift through the rubble and finding the heirlooms and special treasures for the people who’ve lost everything,” she said. “If we can make a difference on the ground and help people get ahead with what they need to, it’ll make a big difference.”

Calder said the international crew has been “warmly welcomed” by both their friends at Team Rubicon and members from the community.

“It feels like home,” she continued.

She said her group was able to receive certain services, like skilled-chainsaw operation, that they didn’t possess prior to the Canadian crew arriving back in the spring. Calder said the relationship between the two humanitarian groups is beneficial as members from both sides continue to pick up new skills by working together.

As of Friday, Task Force Kiwi was receiving some training from the Canadian group before they began assisting with efforts on the ground.