Christmas spirit: Canadians volunteer to help Aussies tackle bushfire crisis

"(Christmas is) that time of year where you help others, more so than at any other time of year," he said.

"Lots of Australians have come and helped us in our time of need and I felt it was a great opportunity to help out our fellow firefighters."

The planning officer, from British Columbia's wildfire service, is one of seven Canadians from BC and Ontario who will spend this holiday season helping finally end the Northern Tablelands' bushfire crisis.

Colleague Chris Werrell said there's a strong connection between Australians and Canadians - he estimates he's fought alongside Aussies at home at least five or six seasons.

He said Christmas day will be tough, but his family support his sacrifice.

"My wife was actually the one that encouraged me to come out here. She thought that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come and give you guys a hand. She was really the one that convinced me," he said.

"I feel like Canadians and Australians are very similar people and we've had nothing but good experiences over here and the people are just very welcoming."

They joined hundreds of volunteer firefighters from across Australia and New Zealand in an unprecedented effort that marked its hundredth day in December, months longer than predicted.

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Two locals were killed and many more injured in an intense crisis in November which smashed homes and lives in Wytaliba, Torrington and all over the New England. And dozens of fires still burn in the region, many of them out of control.

Mark Healy said he's never seen anything like it in Canada.

"It's challenging because of the drought conditions in the area, it's a big challenge.

"The fire behavior that Australia's experiencing is unprecedented, there is no model to pick from on this. And therefore it's a big challenge."

The Canadians saw the need for help from and volunteered to join in. They arrived in Australia a fortnight ago and won't return home until early January.

For some of the Canadians, they've left homes surrounded by snow to take on out-of-control fire in 40 degree heat.

The heavy plant manager said the weather in Glen Innes has an effect on his work too. He's facing a totally different environment to British Columbia with unusual and more dangerous vegetation and tree types.

But Mark Healy, who is a planning officer, said the teams have seen success and they feeling is they're getting on top of the conditions.

"That's our job - to be a day ahead or three days ahead of the fire," he said.

Volunteers from every Australian state - including, recently, hundreds of South Australians - have traveled to help local RFS teams. Both groups have had little reprieve in the intense, hot season.

The firefighting effort doesn't stop for holidays; and volunteers face a 12 hour a day workday rotating every five days including travel.

Local firefighters have themselves lost homes while helping defend other people's lives and property. Others have been injured. Some 829 homes have been destroyed, with 333 damaged and 7310 saved.