By Michael Doran
The quick response by fire-fighters and a rapid response helicopter averted a grass and scrub fire on the Warburton-Woods Point Road, behind the Upper Yarra Dam, getting out of hand on Monday 14 January. The fire was contained to around one hectare and Millgrove CFA Brigade Captain, Richard Ireland said it was the amount of resources put on the fire that had it controlled so quickly.
“A log-truck driver called triple-zero and at the same time the CFA crews were alerted the Melbourne Water helicopter based in Healesville was activated and on-scene within minutes,” he said. “We had heavy earth moving equipment, helicopter and fixed-wing fire bombers, DELWP and CFA crews all there so that fire was not going anywhere.”
“With DELWP crews from Alexandra, Marysville and Powelltown and the CFA crews from Woods Point, Warburton, Millgrove, Marysville and Reefton the response on the ground was great.
“It’s the speed of getting the chopper there before even the crews are onsite that makes all the difference to getting fires like this contained. The chopper crew are talking to the crews on the ground before they have arrived and can guide them to where they can be most effective.
“The resources available to respond to these fires quickly has really upped the ante in what we can do. To see our fire services throwing so much firepower at this fire to keep it really small was an incredible sight to see.”
He also pointed to the availability of heavy earth-moving equipment located nearby as a big plus in fires of this type. “In rugged terrain the firefighters are often at the roadside but with heavy dozers we can get right into the bush so they play a huge part in a quick response situation.”
The CFA advised the fire was contained late afternoon, although some crews remained at the scene overnight to continue blacking out the fires and monitoring the situation.
