BRAVE firefighters have left Tamworth on an overnight flight to help tackle a wildfire disaster in Canada.
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The North American wildfire season has been brutal in the wake of record-breaking temperatures in the western part of the country.
So far there's a 450 per cent increase on last year, with more than one million hectares of forest burnt and still Tamworth Rural Fire Service volunteers Brent King and Allen Madden jumped at the chance to help.
The pair will miss their families but are looking forward to giving back after Canadian teams stepped up in the Black Summer bushfires, RFS area commander Heath Stimson said.
"Both Brent and Allen will lead teams of firefighters on the ground," he said.
"They have both done international deployments to the US before and are excited to be able to repay the favour."
The pair leave Sydney on Tuesday night and will have to quarantine for two weeks on their return.
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Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson waved them off at the local airport and said it was great to see local expertise put to good use overseas.
"These two blokes bravely held back bushfires just a couple of years ago in extremely tough conditions and I can't thank them enough for their service," he said.
"Australia boasts the best firefighters in the world and it's great that our local expertise will be there to offer a helping hand.
"This is an exciting opportunity for Brent and Allen and I wish them well as they head off into foreign territory."
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