Tasmanian Fire Service bolsters capability ahead of bushfire season

The bushfire season is approaching and the state’s fire service is ready for it with new specialised firefighting aircraft stationed across Cambridge and Launceston ready to dispatch.

David Adam pilot from Microflite Aviation in Tasmania for the Summer fire season. Launch of firefighter aircraft for the Summer in Tasmania. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Helicopter pilot David Adam knows he has a dangerous job.

“When you’re flying you don’t want to be low, slow and heavy,” he said.

“But you’re all those things when you’re fighting fires.”

But with the help of a fleet of fifteen specialised firefighting aircraft, Mr Adam said Tasmania was well-placed to tackle the upcoming bushfire season.

The Firebird 700 – nicknamed “the squirrel” – was one of five showcased at Thursday’s launch of the National Aerial Firefighting aircraft.

The state government spent $3.5 million on the new fleet, with a further $1.5 million provided by the federal government as part of their record $48 million National Aerial Capability investment.

Mr Adam said while “everyone wants bigger and better, sometimes a fire doesn’t need a massive aircraft that’s really expensive”.

“There are niche roles for all the helicopters,” he said.

Launch of firefighting aircraft for Summer in Tasmania. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Equipped with an infra-red camera, the Firebird 700 could locate the hottest spot of the fire and embers up to two kilometres away, while the Firebird 460 helped to co-ordinate attending aircraft.

Also on show was a dedicated parks helitak, and two bombers to be stationed in Cambridge.

“The bombers don’t carry any crew on board but drop around 5000 litres of water, which is around the same as a fire truck,” he said.

“These don’t put the fire out, but they are tactical so that ground crews can come in.”

Mr Adam said while firefighting was “a lot of fun”, it was important to “simplify the process”.

“It’s a really chaotic environment when there are multiple aircraft in the air, so these are useful for emergency situations when you need to manoeuvre the fire so it stops itself.”

Tasmanian Fire Service deputy officer Matt Lowe said while the outlook pointed to a normal bushfire season, the expanded fleet was still “essential to getting onto any fires early”.

Launch of firefighter aircraft for the Summer in Tasmania. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“90 per cent of Tasmania is fire prone, so a fire can take off under the right conditions,” he said.

“At the moment our driest conditions are along the east coast which is spreading across the state, and on the west coast we have low levels of moisture in deep soil.

“The TFS is ready and primed for whatever the season brings, but there will be days under catastrophic fire conditions where we cannot deploy these aircrafts, and that’s when we need the community to be prepared.”

The fleet includes:

5 Air Tractor AT-802A for firebombing

2 Air Tractor AT-802A Fireboss

1 Aero Commander 500S for air attack supervision

1 Kawasaki BK117 B-2 for winching

3 Bell 214 B-1 for firebombing

1 Bell 214 B-1 for firebombing

1 Aerospatiale AS 350 B2 for firebombing

1 Europcopter AS 350 B2 for intelligence gathering

Originally published as Tasmanian Fire Service bolsters capability ahead of bushfire season