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Reice Godfrey<\/strong><\/p>\n Firefighter, Torquay Fire Brigade<\/em><\/p>\n Torquay firefighter Reice Godfrey has described the Otways fireground as a war zone.<\/p>\n Battling extreme heat, stiff winds and fast-moving flames, Godfrey was among more than 20 volunteers from the Torquay brigade deployed to Carlisle River to help contain an out-of-control bushfire ignited by lightning strike.<\/p>\n “These fires were really full-on, really hot, close-up heat work with these stiff winds coming through,” he said.<\/p>\n “A lot of volunteers got nice and close and personal with it, myself included.”<\/p>\n Trust and teamwork are critical in volatile conditions where the situation can change in minutes, he said.<\/p>\n “You never know how serious it’s going to be, or what you’re getting into,” Godfrey said. “Most times you’re working with people you’re meeting for the first time. It takes a lot of teamwork.<\/p>\n “It’s go, go, go. Sometimes it’s absolutely tiring and knackering, but every role is so important.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s like a war zone down there sometimes. It’s hard to contemplate what it’s actually like until you are actually down there feeling that heat first-hand.”<\/p>\n Despite the danger, he said the reward of protecting communities outweighed the sacrifice.<\/p>\n “I’ve been going on strike teams for a few years now, and it’s just a crazy time,” Godfrey said. “It takes a lot of sacrifice from your normal day to day.<\/p>\n “That feeling you get when you put out that fire, or you stop it from encroaching on that next farm, or you hear that you’ve maybe saved a town, nothing compares to that.”<\/p>\n For the Torquay brigade, the crew’s deployment to the Otways last month came during what has already been its busiest ever month, according to captain Murray Middleton.<\/p>\n “We got up to a total of 57 emergency service callouts for our area,” he said. “The anxiety levels were up a fair bit, but we were well prepared and managed our Triple Zero calls and emergencies close to home very well.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Em Avery<\/strong><\/p>\n Firefighter, Mannerim Fire Brigade<\/em><\/p>\n When the Otways fire jumped containment lines and began racing towards the small township of Gellibrand on January 27, Em Avery was one of hundreds of firefighters deployed to the area to help contain the blaze.<\/p>\n Avery, who is just 24 years old and has been an operational firefighter since 2017, led a crew through the darkness towards the fire, while trees along the roadside flared around them.<\/p>\n “You can’t see anything except for the lines of fire in the blackness,” she said.<\/p>\n Despite her years of experience, she says the intensity of the blaze had her feeling apprehensive, bordering on scared.<\/p>\n “At one point there was a huge explosion,” Avery said. “The whole world just lit up orange, and you could hear this big bang.<\/p>\n “It turns out somebody had about 19 gas cylinders near their house.”<\/p>\n The home couldn’t be salvaged, a tough call made by crews on the ground as they worked quickly to assess where their resources would have the most impact.<\/p>\n “It’s hard to lose houses but sometimes you just can’t [save them],” Avery said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her ability to ignore the fear nagging at her so she can focus on the task at hand has developed over time, she said.<\/p>\n It is helped by both her training and the trust she has in the people around her.<\/p>\n “We look out for each other,” she said. “If we look out for one another, that takes care of our safety as well.”<\/p>\n This is especially true for her father Jeff, captain of the Mannerim Fire Brigade, who is often on the truck beside her.<\/p>\n The small brigade has been busy over the past month, with 14 of its 18 operational volunteers deployed to blazes across the region.<\/p>\n Since January 9, Avery alone has been deployed five times. She joined more than 300 firefighters in Lismore on January 27, helping to suppress a grassfire with a perimeter of 57km, as well as crews in Anakie, when 1,500 hay bales caught alight and quickly grew into a major blaze that burned for days.<\/p>\n She was also twice sent to the Mount Mercer fire near Meredith. It was on her second deployment that her crew came across a joey. Dehydrated and with burnt paws, the exhausted youngster had been rendered blind.<\/p>\n He was swiftly delivered to the team at the Anakie Wildlife Shelter, but later died.<\/p>\n “I’m just happy that he was comfortable and not alone,” Avery said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jeremy Egan<\/strong><\/p>\n Captain, Geelong City Fire Brigade<\/em><\/p>\n Jeremy Egan was in Kawarren, near Gellibrand, leading a strike team of five trucks when the Otways fire broke containment lines and began threatening properties.<\/p>\n Prepared but unsure how close they were to the fire, the crew began checking on properties and alerting any residents who had chosen to stay of the looming threat.<\/p>\n It didn’t take long before the fire was on them.<\/p>\n “[We] noticed the fire was actually in the valley below us,” Egan said. “Within probably 10-15 minutes, it was actually up and impacting the houses around us,” Egan said.<\/p>\n He said he had never seen a fire move so quickly.<\/p>\n “We looked through the trees at one location and I said to my driver ‘That’s strange, the sun’s coming through the trees there’,” Egan said.<\/p>\n “We had a double take and went ‘Hang on, that’s not the sun, that’s fire from top to bottom all through the trees’.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That one woke us up very quickly. It changed from ‘We think there’s a fire near us’ to ‘We’ve now got houses under threat and the fire’s right on us’.”<\/p>\n For the six hours that followed, the team \u2013 some of whom had travelled from Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Yeodene to support the suppression effort \u2013 worked to protect the homes around them.<\/p>\n Gusty winds added to the challenge, each rise bringing with it renewed risk, as the team maintained a constant watch for ember attack from the surrounding forest.<\/p>\n “The wind would pick up again and the next minute you’d have showers of embers over the top of the roof and into the different parts of the property,” Egan said. “It’s actually a bit overwhelming. You’ve got so much fire around you that you’re trying to keep an eye on everything.”<\/p>\n Egan has welcomed the chance to rest as conditions have eased, but with the calendar only just rounding February, he is conscious there is still another month or two of potential fire weather ahead.<\/p>\n “There’s a bit of a realisation too that this year’s different and we’ve got to have a long-term strategy here,” he said. “We don’t think this is going to go away any time soon.”<\/p>\n He urged residents to stay alert in the weeks ahead and use the Vic Emergency app and local radio broadcasts to keep informed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wendy Scott<\/strong><\/p>\n Firefighter, Aireys Inlet Fire Brigade<\/em><\/p>\n For Wendy Scott, the recent Otways bushfire campaign marked her first strike team deployment as a volunteer with the Aireys Inlet Fire Brigade.<\/p>\n It came at the height of a demanding response across the region.<\/p>\n A retired Aireys Inlet school teacher, Scott was deployed to the Gellibrand fires in extreme weather, joining a composite strike team made up of crews from across the Surf Coast, including Anglesea and Torquay.<\/p>\n Heading into the fireground in the early hours of the morning, she spent close to 10 hours on the ground, undertaking asset protection and supporting efforts to slow the fire’s spread.<\/p>\n “I left in a tanker immediately as soon as I got there and had to familiarise myself with what was in the truck,” she said.<\/p>\n Among the crew’s tasks was protecting a house in Gellibrand. The strategy was to allow the fire to burn to a manageable level until fuel was exhausted, before relocating to stop it spreading into nearby tree plantations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite the scale of the operation, Scott said her training and the support around her helped steady her nerves.<\/p>\n “I was nervous because I had not been out on the fireground before, but because I’ve done so much of the training, I felt like I knew what my role was,” she said.<\/p>\n She said the culture within the strike team made a lasting impression, even before crews arrived.<\/p>\n “When we were on the bus to Gellibrand, the strike team leader was mentoring every person and asking them about their experience,” Scott said.<\/p>\n “Luckily, I was placed with someone very experienced, and while I was nervous, I wasn’t scared.”<\/p>\n Reassurance from leaders on the ground also played a key role.<\/p>\n “Jack, one of the leaders, reiterated that everyone would be going home tonight, working as a team and getting home safe,” Scott said.<\/p>\n “This made me feel assured and that I was going to be OK.”<\/p>\n Scott was reassured enough by the experience that she returned for a second strike team deployment to Gellibrand just a few days later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Craig Warren<\/strong><\/p>\n Firefighter, Wallington Fire Brigade<\/em><\/p>\n Craig Warren says the contrast between firegrounds was one of the defining features of January’s bushfire campaign, with crews moving between open grassland and dense forest in short succession.<\/p>\n “At times there was fire all around us, falling on the trucks,” he said. “If it was your first deployment, it would’ve been confronting. But you fall back on training and look after the person beside you.”<\/p>\n Those experiences were shared across the Bellarine, where volunteer firefighters recorded their busiest summer since 2019.<\/p>\n More than 120 volunteers from nine Bellarine fire brigades were deployed to major fires across the state during an intense and sustained campaign last month.<\/p>\n Over three weeks, crews from Barwon Heads, Drysdale, Leopold, Mannerim, Ocean Grove, Portarlington, Queenscliff, St Leonards and Wallington responded to fires at Carlisle River, Gellibrand and at Mount Mercer, near Meredith.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many returned up to five times as conditions escalated across different landscapes, eager to play their part in the whole-of-region suppression effort.<\/p>\n Bellarine CFA group officer Andy Longmore said more than 60 per cent of the Bellarine’s 200 active volunteers were deployed during the campaign.<\/p>\n “The willingness of people to keep putting their hands up \u2013 three, four, even five times \u2013 has been brilliant,” he said.<\/p>\n “They’re dedicating huge chunks of their own time to help other communities.”<\/p>\n The deployments involved long shifts and extended travel, with Bellarine crews regularly heading to the Otways to tackle grass, forest and hotspot fires that tested both their endurance and team coordination<\/p>\n As fire fronts eased, attention shifted to long nights of patrol.<\/p>\n “It’s not all champagne and chocolates,” Warren said. “But we know if we do that hard work, farmers can focus on rebuilding fences and moving stock.<\/p>\n “That’s what we sign up for.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even amid fatigue and emotional tolls, the sense of purpose held strong.<\/p>\n “On the back of a CFA tanker, everyone’s equal,” Warren said. “It’s about community \u2013 neighbours helping neighbours. The Bellarine’s spirit is alive and well.”<\/p>\n Queenscliff Fire Brigade played a prominent role under new captain Paul Hicks, who took over in July and led crews while mentoring new members on the fireground.<\/p>\n “These are experiences you can’t replicate in training,” Longmore said. “Paul’s been right there with them, leading from the front.”<\/p>\n For many, the campaign’s defining moment came south-east of Gellibrand, where a Bellarine crew saved a farmhouse and around\u202f$60,000\u202fof silage and livestock.<\/p>\n “They were really proud of what they did,” Longmore said.<\/p>\n With hot and dry conditions forecast to continue, Longmore said local brigades remained ready to respond if called on again.<\/p>\n “We’ve got safety plans, solid training and a lot of heart,” he said.<\/p>\n “That’s what keeps us safe and keeps us going.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adrian Flynn<\/strong><\/p>\n Captain, Belmont Fire Brigade<\/em><\/p>\n Navigating a fire campaign as sustained as the one that hit Victoria last month is as much about managing logistics as it is about monitoring fire behaviour, Belmont Fire Brigade captain Adrian Flynn says.<\/p>\n Over the last three weeks, every member of his brigade has been deployed to blazes that have stretched crews across different landscapes, from the dense forest of the Otways to fast-moving grass fires.<\/p>\n Every member of the Belmont brigade has been deployed at least twice in the last three weeks, with some joining the firegrounds close to 10 times.<\/p>\n “We’ve had fires, but nothing as significant as what we’ve had down particularly around District 6 with Lismore and the Carlisle fires,” he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “All being close together means logistically it’s been fairly challenging for everybody.”<\/p>\n But while the fire behaviour demanded constant attention, Flynn said the greatest pressure of a prolonged campaign came from managing people.<\/p>\n “The impact is logistical in just trying to organise people, making sure we’ve got enough people and spread the load,” he said. “[We have to] manage their fatigue as well, which is the biggest challenge.<\/p>\n “After that period of a couple of weeks, everybody starts to feel a bit tired and worn down.”<\/p>\n Ensuring volunteers had adequate rest before returning to the fireground became critical as the campaign wore on.<\/p>\n He said the response relied heavily on support from neighbouring brigades and districts, with crews regularly working alongside firefighters from across the region.<\/p>\n A firefighter for 36 years, Flynn says the conditions were familiar to him but acknowledged many volunteers were encountering challenging fire behaviour for the first time.<\/p>\n “We had moments where, particularly down in the Otways, the fire came through and climbed trees really quickly, which was a little bit unusual \u2013 so straight up to the top of 30 or 40-foot trees and that was throwing a lot of embers everywhere,” he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Clear communication, he said, played a key role in keeping crews safe.<\/p>\n “It can be challenging at times, particularly those people that haven’t experienced it before, but the communication from the incident controllers right down to the people on the ground has been really good.<\/p>\n “The knowledge has been passed on, the warnings have been passed on, so everybody’s prepared for what’s coming, and we ensure that our crews have that information.<\/p>\n Experienced leadership on the ground was also crucial.<\/p>\n “We have our leaders with groups who are all experienced and they keep an eye on the safety of everybody,” Flynn said. “But with any of those sorts of incidents, there’s risks with trees and the fire activity and smoke and so on.<\/p>\n “The challenge is just keeping everybody safe.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sam Maiolo<\/strong><\/p>\n District 7 Commander<\/p>\n When the bushfires exploded into life in the Otways, firefighters from not only local brigades but also across the state jumped in their trucks to respond to the call.<\/p>\n The bushfire’s start near Carlisle River triggered a sophisticated and coordinated response from Victoria’s emergency services.<\/p>\n Under such circumstances, the local resource team reviews all assets from both the nearby CFA and Fire Forest Management Victoria crews in the district to form strike teams of between 12 and 22 firefighters to tackle the blaze.<\/p>\n If required, the resource team escalates the matter to State Resourcing, which then asks other districts to determine what crew they can provide based on capacity and their own local requirements.<\/p>\n For the Otways fire in late January, about 20 strike teams were sourced from outside the local district, from locations as close as North Geelong and Wendouree near Ballarat, and as far away as Chirnside Park in Melbourne’s east, Hamilton to the west, and Horsham to the north.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n District 7 Commander Sam Maiolo served as district duty officer over three days during the worst of the fires and was part of the efforts to support the fire being fought in neighbouring District 6, which had its Incident Control Centre in Colac.<\/p>\n “If they need extra resources because of changeover crews, crew fatigue, we try to minimise that,” he said.<\/p>\n “So, that way we try to share the workload if we’re able to give them resources from our own, but remembering that we try to maintain our own district capability at the same time so we don’t want to give away everything, but we obviously fight the fire that we have.”<\/p>\n He said requests were filled from a mix of brigades.<\/p>\n “We don’t want to draw them all out of, say, the coastal group. You don’t want to take two trucks out of Anglesea, you’d never do that; you would only take one,” he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/615577638_1290320486_76979.jpg\")
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