The largest deployment ever of firefighters from Australia and New Zealand is now in Boise training before being sent to wildfires burning across the western United States.74 was a lot before, put another 241 on top it is absol utely our largest deployment to the US of A, said Sam Quigley, the international liaison for the crews.A second wave of international firefighters brought the total number of personnel stateside to more than 300. The newest arrivals are spending two days at the National Interagency Fire Center learning U.S. firefighting operations and equipment before heading to their fire assignments. WATCH | See how the new batch of international firefighters are training before being deployed Largest-ever U.S. deployment of Australian, New Zealand firefighters arrive in BoiseTwo very important things that we're focusing in on is fire shelters, which is a tool here in the US, it is a life protection system for firefighters which we dont do in Australia, which we will be going through today, going and putting our teams through their paces as well as radios, Quigley said.Many of the firefighters are using personal fire shelters for the first time. In Australia and New Zealand they use their trucks as shelters which are fitted with things like reflective window covers, in cab breathing systems and deluge/halo systems that can spray water or foam on the vehicle in the event of a burnover.At home, we dont actually carry an individual fire shelter with us like this so we rely more heavily on our trucks to protect us, said Nick Hornbuckle, an engine boss with the international crew.Hornbuckle is on his first deployment to the United States and said the shelters can be tricky to use for the first time.I think its hard, it'd be fiddly with gloves on, I havent had to do it with gloves on and when youre a bit stressed out I suppose trying to get into it, Hornbuckle said.Crews are also training on U.S. brush trucks and equipment from agencies across the country, including learning to drive vehicles configured differently from those back home not to mention driving on the opposite side of the road.Really exciting that the crews will be out on these engines learning a different type of big vehicle with a steering wheel on the wrong side, Quigley said.Despite the differences, Quigley said the firefighters core skills will transfer easily to incidents across the region.Were just keen to get into it and go see some new countryside and work with new teams and its always fun working with new crews and helping out where we can which is what were here to do so it should be, looking forward to it, Hornbuckle added.The firefighters will be working on fires across the West for about a month before making the long trek home in mid-September.This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less