Kimberly Clark Australia opens up water treatment pond at Millicent Mill to CFS

One of SA’s biggest companies has joined forces with the CFS to sign a major agreement that allows firefighters to instantly access water in emergencies.

The Australian branch of a prominent international manufacturer has opened up a large water treatment pond at a regional site to help the CFS fight fires.

Kimberly Clark Australia, one of Australia’s leading tissue and toilet paper manufacturers, has stepped in to assist the CFS by opening up its water treatment pond in Millicent to be used as a crucial firefighting aid.

The water treatment pond at Millicent Mill, which has been opened up to the CFS for use by firefighting aircraft. Picture: Supplied

The CFS assess open water sources in or near fire-risk areas to determine whether they’re suitable for firefighting aircraft to carry out water-bombing drops.

Assessment of the KCA’s Millicent water source, the largest water treatment pond at the company’s local paper mill, was carried out in January with two successful test hover-fills and water bombing drops.

A water bomber during a test run using the Millicent mill’s water treatment pond. Picture: Supplied

The addition of KCA’s Millicent pond as an available water source will be useful when it comes to combating fires in the Lower South-East region, which is made up in large part of pine forests and dense scrub - which when alight can quickly spiral out of control.

Nik Stanley, manager state aviation operations for the CFS said, “the opportunity for (the CFS) to use the water treatment ponds at Kimberly-Clark’s Millicent Mill will provide us with a significant advantage in our firefighting operations in the south east of South Australia during the bushfire season.

“The pond has a very large volume of water, which is easily accessible for our helicopters to extract water from. This will potentially cut down turnaround times for our aircraft when combating fires in the region.

“This level of co-operation between the CFS and local industry delivers significant benefit to the wider community.”

Mill manager at Kimberly-Clark Australia Adam Carpenter said the business and its employees “have a long history of supporting the South Australian CFS, both with ready access to water for tankers and with a number of employees volunteering at local brigades”.

“We understand how important CFS’ service is to the region, so when they asked if we could support aerial firefighting activities by providing access to a clean water source, we were quick to say yes.”

“The trials conducted have demonstrated that the water from our treatment pond is safe for use and can be easily accessed by the CFS fleet, making it a great firefighting resource – and we’re proud to be playing a supporting role in the region’s firefighting efforts.”

A water bomber during a test run using the Millicent mill’s water treatment pond.

The partnership between KCA and the CFS comes as a new fleet of aerial firefighting aircraft take to the South-East skies – with three Air Tractor AT-802 fixed-wing bombing aircraft, two Squirrel helicopters (Air Attack Supervisor & Air Observer platforms) and one Blackhawk Helitak 515 helicopter now in service.

The Blackhawk Helitak 515 is new to the area and needs access suitable open water sources to hover-fill. The filling process takes less than 60 seconds and loads about 4000 litres of water.

The addition of these aircraft brings the CFS’s fleet to a total of 31 aircraft – the largest the fleet has been – significantly improving the state’s aerial capability.

The expanded fleet will make it easier for the CFS to manage how aircraft are deployed and where they are stationed on days of high fire danger, streamlining coordination efforts, and improving public safety.

Aircraft are particularly valuable in tackling fires burning in difficult to access terrain, and in reducing the ferocity and speed of fast-moving fires.

The additional aircraft and KCA Millicent water source will provide greater aerial firefighting support to ground crews.

Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark employs about 700 people across Australia and New Zealand.

The majority of KCA’s Australian workforce is employed at the Millicent paper mill, which manufactures Kleenex, Scott toilet and facial tissue, and VIVA and Scott paper towel products.

The mill is the single largest employer in the South-East region of South Australia.