ENGULFED in a ‘glow of orange’ and in unimaginable heat, Townsville based Army aircrew flew in horrific conditions to carry out rescue and reconnaissance missions during Australia’s ‘Black Summer’.
The 2019-2020 bushfire season proved to be the most devastating bushfires in Australia's’s history with more than 24 million hectares of land burnt, 3000 homes destroyed and three billion animals were killed or displaced.
Thirty-three people died, including six Australian firefighters and three American aerial firefighters killed when their aircraft collided with terrain.
Townsville based MRH-90 Taipan helicopter Pilot Captain Leon Botham and Aircrewman Sergeant Kieran Dan are used to operating in dangerous environments but nothing could have prepared them for the ‘apocalyptic’ type conditions they were confronted with when they deployed as part of Operation Bushfire Assist.
“When we were responding to the areas that were still on fire we saw a lot of people trying to prevent the damage occurring to properties, and a lot of bombing aircraft to try and save infrastructure,” Capt Botham said.
“Visibility was a major issue and reduced visibility with smoke was unique to that environment which many of us had not experienced previously.
“ In addition, just the fact there was a very large amount of aircraft there trying to prevent damage from the fires occurring made it a very complex space as far as co-ordinating and deconfliction of air traffic.”
Embedded with state authorities, Townsville’s MRH-90 Taipans were tasked with rescue and reconnaissance missions, while the Chinook capability assisted in the transport and delivery of people, fodder, food and water to inaccessible areas.
Capt Botham, who also acted as Troop Commander of the fleet said the MRH-90 Taipans were assigned to assist the Rural Fire Service however and whenever needed.
“We were basically on call to respond in case people needed to be rescued and so on,” he said.
“In addition to that, we also conducted reconnaissance and photography of damaged buildings for reporting purposes.”
Sergeant Dane was no stranger to responding to natural disasters, he assisted during and in the aftermath of the Townsville floods in 2019.
He said while the stress level may have been similar, the conditions could not have been further from each other.
“Having done the floods, it was at the other spectrum where everything was wet and everything was constantly raining,” Sgt Dane said.
“The noticeable difference for us was when flying around in the fire affected areas, the whole just a glow of orange and the intensity of heat.”
Led by outgoing Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Martin of the 5th Aviation Regiment in Townsville, the Australian Army aviation contingent operated as part of the multinational rotary wing task force which included the Republic of Singapore Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, United States Air Force, Canadian Air Force, the Japanese Self-Defense Force, Indonesian National Armed Forces, Republic of Fiji Military Force and the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.
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