There’ll be extra firepower on hand for Country Fire Authority crews in the Macedon Ranges this summer.
North west regional commander Mark Gilmore said a new firefighting helicopter will be available when needed, as recommended by the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission.
The new helicopter will stand alongside 26 other aircraft servicing regions around the state, and would be dispatched from Mangalore Airport, about 90 kilometres from the Macedon Ranges near Seymour, in a bushfire emergency, Mr Gilmore said.
“They will get the same page that ground crews receive, dispatch and be arriving at fire grounds at the same time,” Mr Gilmore said.
“It will give us a lot more success during the first attack and, in doing so, means volunteers can spend less time at fire grounds, and get back to the business, back to work and back to their families.”
He said the advantage of this more rapid-strike approach was the much greater prospect of keeping wild fires small.
More than 40 volunteers and professional emergency workers met at a recent pre-season briefing in Gisborne – one of the many fire preparation briefings already this season.
“There has been an enormous amount of grass growth and, because of that, we are looking at a challenging year for fast-moving grass fires,” Mr Gilmore said.
While the worst fire danger period is likely to be later this season because of late rains, the north and west of the state could have fire restrictions imposed within a month, he said.Starting next week, Forest Fire Management Victoria will start slashing about 1500 hectares of public land in central Victoria in preparation for the bushfire season.
Forest Fire Management Victoria district manager Paul Bates, said works have been slightly delayed this season due to recent rains.
“Reducing bushfire risk is a shared responsibility,” he said. ‘Reducing fuel loads on public land can only do so much – our modelling shows a significant amount of bushfire risk is on privately owned land because of thick vegetation and high populations.”
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