Night time firebombing approved for next summer

NIGHT-TIME firebombing in Victoria next summer has been given the green light following the completion of an Australian-first trial in March. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has approved Coulson Aviation and Kestrel Aviation to undertake night aerial fire suppression operations to be undertaken in Australia.

Both companies have been part of a night fire suppression trial led by Emergency Management Victoria in Ballarat. Coulson Aviation became the first in Australia to successfully conduct night fire suppression operations, including hover filling from open water sources using night vision goggles.

Kestrel Aviation has also been part of the trial and gained CASA approval to operate night operations by refilling while landed on the ground. Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the approvals were a key milestone and meant Victoria, on behalf of other states and territories, could continue to work through the implementation of night fire suppression in preparation for the 2018-19 fire season.

“The ability to fight fires at night is a game-changer and this is a fantastic outcome. “It is a key milestone in an ongoing trial that Victoria has been undertaking with both operators to develop capability to attack wildfires in the late afternoon and into the night using night vision goggles.”

The approvals mean that Victoria now needs to develop the policies and procedures to ensure night fire operations can be undertaken safely in real fire situations as it was in the tightly controlled trial conditions. Mr Lapsley said the process so far had been a valuable experience, bringing the issues associated with the safety of night aerial bombing together with the integration into on-ground firefighting.

“We’ll continue to test into the next summer exactly what conditions and processes are required for night operations to be undertaken safely using the helicopters that have been approved.”