LOCAL FIRIES PREPARE TO ENTER REMOTE BUSHFIRES BY HELICOPTER

By Sarah Waters

If a bushfire breaks out in a remote part of the country, Captain of the Cudgen Rural Fire Brigade Troy Middlebrook will be among a specialist team helicopter or hiking in by foot.

The highly skilled firefighters can be lowered into the fire zone and make their way through challenging terrain, with backpack blowers, chainsaws,

‘black out’ logs and stumps along the edge of the fire and stabilise any burning material in the area.

Early suppression of fires in remote terrain by RAFT crews is one way in which the NSW who can be winched in by helicopter to fight it.

Middlebrook said.

“The helicopter will be there as our support bucketing water while we fight the fire.

Mr Middlebrook is a member of the Northern Rivers Remote Area Firefighting Team (RAFT), which specialise in fighting fires that are inaccessible by firefighting trucks and only accessible by rakes and axes.

Instead of using water, RAFT crews will use dry firefighting techniques, such as breaking up burning logs, to remove fuel from the ground and create a containment line.

Waterbombing aircraft can be called in to help

RFS prevent the natural development of large and destructive fires.

Mr Middlebrook said when there is high fire danger, RAFT members will be placed on standby at an airport, ready to be flown into fire zones.

“It can be exciting and interesting work,” Mr

“We’ve got a lot of protocols and we always make sure we have one foot in the black,” he said.

Mr Middlebrook said dry firefighting methods were very effective - if they get into the fire early enough.

“We’re removing vegetation down to bare earth, so we can put a bare earth line in front of the fire.

“Depending on the size of the flames, backpack blowers are used to push the flame out and cut the fuel source off for the fire.

“As long as the flame size isn’t excessive, we can chase them around meet strict medical, physical and competency standards and are required to work for a long time on steep and uneven terrain.

In NSW they are volunteer firefighters who are from regular and actually blow the fire out.”

Mr Middlebrook has fought fires across the country as a RAFT member since 2016.

Winching operations are considered to be one of the most dangerous ways to fight fires.

RAFT members must brigades but have chosen to branch into a specialised operation.

The NSW RFS is the largest firefighting force in the world with about 70,000 volunteers working across the state. There are about 500 Remote Area Firefighters across NSW.