Fifteen aircraft deployed for summer fire season

BEFORE the beginning of summer, fifteen firefighting aircraft have been deployed to regional areas including Ballarat, Stawell and Ovens Valley.

With this year’s bushfire season expected to be significant, the aircraft were deployed early.

Premier Jacinta Allan, Minister for Emergency Services Vicki Ward, Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos, and Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch met crews in Ballarat last week.

Throughout the bushfire season, aircraft will be moved according to risk.

“We’re acting early to protect communities across Victoria by ensuring our firefighters have the resources they need to keep Victorians safe,” Ms Allan said.

The state’s aerial firefighting fleet includes firebombing aircraft, air supervision and information gathering aircraft.

There is a call-when-needed capacity of up to 100 aircraft which assist the core fleet.

The remainder of the fleet are expected to arrive into early December and be contracted until March, with the option to extend.

“Victorians know firsthand how dry parts of our state are and the risk this carries heading into summer,” Mr Dimopoulos said.

“That’s why we’re making sure aircraft and other supports are available to support our emergency services on the ground.”