Tassie firefighters on way to help fight Victorian blaze

Tasmanian remote area firefighters have deployed to help their Victorian counterparts battle a major bushfire burning in the Grampians National Park.

Tasmania Fire Service volunteers Jonathon Belbin Rokeby Fire Brigade, Dale Nicolson Kingston Fire Brigade and Chris Allfree Taroona Fire Brigade who are all remote area trained. Tasmania Fire Service firefighters are heading to Victoria to assist with fighting bushfires as conditions worsen. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Tasmanian remote area firefighters have deployed to help their Victorian counterparts battle a major bushfire burning in the Grampians National Park.

The first of two rotations of a Tasmanian Firefighting Taskforce set out on Boxing Day.

Matt Lowe deputy chief officer Tasmania Fire Service. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Deputy Chief Officer of Tasmania Fire Service Matt Lowe said Tasmanian personnel would be providing support through the National Resource Sharing Centre as Victoria experienced extreme fire conditions.

“The firefighters will be made up of a combination of firefighters from Sustainable Timber Tasmania, the Parks and Wildlife Service and TFS career and volunteer firefighters,” he said.

“Victoria today is in a state of total fire ban across the entire state, so these are the worst conditions they’ve had really since 2019/20 fire season so they requested support from other states early in the week and the states on the eastern seaboard have all assisted.

“In Tasmania we don’t have any significant fires, so we are fortunate that we can assist, noting that that can be reciprocated from other states when we require assistance as we have seen in the past.”

Grampians Fire continues to rage on. Picture: Facebook Hamilton Fire Brigade

Dale Nicolson fourth officer Kingston Fire Brigade, Chris Allfree fourth officer Taroona Fire Brigade, Jonathon Belbin fourth officer Rokeby Fire Brigade who are all remote area trained and volunteer firefighters. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Sustainable Timber Tasmania firefighter Jye Hill is the Taskforce leader.

“We’ll be heading over for a five-day shift and looking at some pretty high fire danger through that period,” he said.

“Arduous firefighting is a case of expected the unexpected basically but we’ll be looking at trying to help.

“We could be choppered in by aircraft, we could be going to remote areas to try and conduct some backburning operations we could be trying to assist with slowing the spread of the fire, especially the flank fires.”

Phil Sanger 2nd officer with Channel Fire Brigade and son Jake Sanger 33 career senior firefighter with Hobart Fire Brigade who are being deployed interstate together for the first time. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Firefighter Dale Nicholson said wildfire fighting in summer always involved a lot of heat and a lot of arduous work, but also many unknowns.

“Being a remote area team, we don’t know what we’re going to encounter,” he said.

“We’ve all had our training … I don’t think it’ll be a problem. We’ll just get in and get the job done and do what we need to do.”

A second contingent of Tasmanian firefighters will deploy to Victoria on New Year’s Eve for five days.

Dale Nicolson Kingston Fire Brigade and Chris Allfree Taroona Fire Brigade who are remote area trained with Matt Lowe deputy chief officer Tasmania Fire Service. Tasmania Fire Service firefighters are heading to Victoria to assist with fighting bushfires as conditions worsen. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Deputy Chief Officer Lowe said it was a timely reminder to Tasmanian residents to prepare for the risk of fire.

“While we assist our interstate counterparts, this is a reminder for everyone to be prepared for bushfires.”

“The best defence against a bushfire is being prepared, staying informed, and keeping up to date with information to stay safe.”

“Know your risk, develop and practice bushfire plans, know how to access information, and

review the Community Bushfire Protection Plan for your area.”

Originally published as Tassie firefighters on way to help fight Victorian blaze