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Victorian Specialist Firefighters To Help Battle Us Fires

A team of 17 specialist Victorian firefighters will join a team of Australian and New Zealanders heading to the United States to battle bushfires blazing across the country.

By Department of Sustainability and Environment - 27th August 2003 - Back to News

The Department of Sustainability and Environment, Department of Primary Industries and Parks Victoria firefighters will make up part of a joint Australia/New Zealand force of 50 to fly out tomorrow.

The team will be deployed to the northern Rocky Mountains area of Idaho and Montana for an expected five-week stay to tackle large fires burning in mountainous-forested areas.

Department of Sustainability and Environment Chief Fire Officer, Gary Morgan, said the Victoria was one of the most fire prone areas in the world, and the state’s forest firefighters had an enviable reputation around the world.

"The Australian / New Zealand firefighting team are skilled in fire management, aircraft and infra-red technology and will tackle a large area working in steep, rugged heavily forested terrain," he said.

"We will be part of a world class firefighting team and will initially fly to the National Interagency Fire Centre in Boise, Idaho, for two days’ orientation."

North America is experiencing an extreme fire season due to an ongoing drought and the forests being at all time level of dryness

There are over 80 large fires and hundreds of smaller fires currently burning through thousands of hectares in the western part of the United States.

Mr Morgan said the operation would expand on a growing relationship between Australian, New Zealand and US fire management experts.

He said similar fire management practices were employed by Australian and American firefighters and the firefighting crews were very compatible.

"This is the third time we have sent Victorian firefighters to North America and last summer, in an Australian first, US firefighters helped out with the Alpine fire during January and February," he said.

"This is a good opportunity to thank and repay them for their valuable assistance with our fires".

Specialist firefighters from Gippsland travelling to the US include Noojee Fire Management Officer Dave Vaskess, staff from Forestry Victoria - Chris Marshall from Orbost and Geoff Pike from Heyfield and Briagolong Ranger Peter Duncan from Parks Victoria.

Gippsland's Regional Fire Manager David Tainsh said that these firefighters all possessed excellent skills in their field and had been chosen for their knowledge and experience in complex fire behaviour situations.

"All these staff have extensive experience and played key roles throughout the recent fires in the Alpine region," Mr Tainsh said.

"I have no doubt that they will adapt to the US environment and perform in the competent manner that we would expect."

"All our staff are experienced operational firefighters with more than 20 years experience behind them. Chris Marshall and Peter Duncan are likely to perform senior Divisional Commander roles, whilst Geoff Pike and Dave Vaskess are likely to perform aircraft management tasks."

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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