20 February 2009
Six Forestry Plantations Queensland fire fighters joined in the emergency response to Victoria’s bush fires this month.
The fire fighters assisted Victorian fire suppression activities in the Alexandra area in central Victoria, flying in on 10 February and returning to Queensland on 15 February.
Attending the fires were Forestry Plantations Queensland’s Beerburrum staff Mick Burrow and Ashley Shooter, Fraser Coast staff Fred France and Karen Doyle, and Imbil staff Bob Lewis and Mark Lanfranchi.
The crew helped maintain fire containment lines in the region and gained valuable on-the-ground experience in major fire incident management.
“I doubt many Queenslanders would have seen anything like it.
“Even the efforts fighting the Beerburrum forest fires in 1994 pale beside what is happening in Victoria,” Forestry Plantations Queensland fire fighter Bob Lewis said on his return.
“The days we were at the fires nearly 600 people were on the day shift, with 106 tankers, 28 mop ups, 27 command vehicles, 59 dozers and eight aircraft engaged in fire fighting activities,” Mr Lewis said.
Mr Lewis said Forestry Plantations Queensland’s attendance at the fire was the organisation’s way of providing a tangible contribution to Victoria’s fire control effort as well as being a chance to witness the coordination of fire authorities responding to a major fire.
“It really enforced the value of fire agencies adhering to a single incident control system like the AIIMS system that is used throughout Australia,” he said.
AIIMS stands for Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System, a system that has been formally adopted by all Australian fire and land management agencies and the Australian Council of State Emergency Services.
Victoria’s ongoing bush fire emergency is unprecedented in its severity, loss of life and destruction of built and natural assets.
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