NSW bushfires: Black Saturday veterans rush to help NSW mates

Victorian firefighters who battled the infamous Black Saturday blazes have rushed to NSW to repay their northern counterparts.

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Almost 200 Victorian volunteer firefighters, Including veterans of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, have trucked into NSW ahead of “doomsday” fire conditions.

The southern state’s Country Fire Authority mustered 187 members on Sunday afternoon when it became clear NSW was staring down the barrel of hot and windy conditions while already battling massive bushfires.

The largely volunteer force, made up of six strike teams in 30 trucks, have been waiting for deployment from Singleton’s Lone Pine army base.

Victorian firefighters Matt Wierenga and Peter Ryan ready for action. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

More than 185 Victorian firefighters are on standby at Singleton’s Lonepine Army Barracks. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

A convoy of CFA fire fighting trucks from Victoria on the M1 heading to Sydney. Picture: AAP

A bushfire danger rating sign at Richmond today. Picture: AAP

They don’t know if they’ll be sent north, south or west as kilometres of firefront threaten to explode under a “catastrophic” fire rating.

“NSW piled in for us on Black Saturday and that’s why we are here,” Hillscrest captain Fiona Burns told The Daily Telegraph.

“We don’t want to see another community affected that way.”

Ms Burns is one of many Victorian firefighters who remembers battling the hellish conditions of 2009 in her home state.

The Victorian firefighters pose for picture before assuming duties. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

The Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 killed 180 people.

Residents scour the ruins of a home razed in the Black Saturday fires.

“I remember the feeling when NSW came into Victoria then – the sense of relief knowing others had come to help really mattered,” she said.

Inglewood Captain Andrew “Smithy” Smith watched homes combusting in Bendigo in the blaze that killed close to 200 people.

”We just couldn’t fight all at once,” he said.

He’s concerned Tuesday could end in a similar way for NSW.

Mr Smith urged residents who are not in a safe position to defend their property to evacuate before the worst strikes.

”It’s got the potential to be a disaster,” he said.

“The fact everything is so dry, there are plenty of exhausted firefighters on ground and the reality is there are not enough trucks to be at every house.”

“We will do what we can with what we got but that only can to so far.”

Victorian strike team leader George Calleja said the fires in NSW are “fierce” and fast moving – the weather is amongst the worst possible.

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“Conditions are bad around here and it’s completely different country to what we are used to but it won’t take us long to adapt,” he said.

“But when people need help we’ll be there, that’s why we do it, even if it’s a community outside our own.”

Originally published as NSW bushfires: Black Saturday veterans rush to help NSW mates