Morgan Meyers spent two weeks on the ground in New South Wales at the end of November and start of December, as part of a 25-strong Kiwi contingent sent to help their neighbours across the Ditch.
Another group of 22 firefighters will head there next week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday.
It comes as weather conditions were predicted to deteriorate even further this weekend, making it one of the worst periods of the fire season so far.
At least 18 people have already died this fire season, and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from New South Wales and Victoria.
Mr Meyers said his Australian counterparts were "absolutely shattered" and needed help on the ground.
"I’ll definitely get back over there if I can."
His first week over there was spent backburning about 10,000ha of land in the Myall Creek area to prevent the fire from spreading, and in the second week they patrolled that area to put out hot spots.
He worked from 6pm to 6am, which was fortunate, he said — the temperatures were only in the mid-20s, instead of the scorching daytime heat.
Still, it was tough, dangerous work.
"One night we had an electrical storm, so we were chasing lightning strikes," he said.
"The job itself, it wasn’t as physically exerting as I thought it would be, because the terrain was flat. But the hours we were doing, and the driving, it was fatiguing, we were absolutely knackered."
Falling trees were also a danger, as were car crashes as a result of fatigue.
Then there was the wildlife.
"When you’re lighting up, you’ve got snakes coming out of the bush around you. That was fairly unique for us."
While the fires were "fairly intense" while he was there, they have become much worse.
"What we’re seeing now, it’s almost like there’s no end in sight for them and they’re just going to keep struggling with it."
The techniques Australian firefighters were using were different to those used in New Zealand, and learning those could be beneficial in the future, he said.
"Conditions in New Zealand are, very slowly, they’re getting warmer, they’re getting drier, we’re using skills there that might be relevant one day."
