Climate change making Kiwi firefighter deployments overseas even more important

Kiwi firefighters are in increasing demand overseas as climate change continues to affect weather conditions worldwide.

In the past 12 months New Zealand has deployed nearly 250 firefighters to assist their international counterparts, a figure that is more than ever before.

North Canterbury firefighter Dale Wilhelm spent six weeks away from home, working 14 days on, two off with few chances to speak to his family.

"The families do it hard, we go over and focus on the job, but they carry on with normal life," he told 1 NEWS.

NIWA's Andrew Tait predicts climate change will see demand for backup overseas continue to rise in the future.

"All the projections for climate change indicate fire seasons will continue to get longer and the fire weather associated with those seasons to be more intense," Mr Tait says.

The changing weather means Fire and Emergency NZ is prepared for larger fires like we saw in Nelson this year to become more frequent - meaning, invaluable overseas experience for firemen like Mr Wilhelm could soon be needed here.