{"id":149057,"date":"2024-11-05T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=149057"},"modified":"2024-10-31T06:21:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T19:21:52","slug":"fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting fires from the air for 40 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THIS summer, Forest Fire Management Victoria&#8217;s (FFMVic) helicopter rappel program is celebrating 40 years of delivering forest firefighters to fight some of the state&#8217;s most remote and inaccessible bushfires.<\/p>\n<p>Rappelling uses specialist equipment to transport firefighters from a hovering helicopter to the ground.<\/p>\n<p>This allows fire crews to deploy quickly to remote and mountainous locations where there may not be road access or space to land a helicopter.<\/p>\n<p>The firefighters can then bring small fires under control quickly using &#8220;dry firefighting&#8221; techniques to slow its spread until other resources can reach the fires, or clear areas to allow helicopters to land.<\/p>\n<p>Dry fire techniques include using rakehoes to establish mineral earth breaks and using chainsaws to create fire breaks or improve access to other firefighting resources.<\/p>\n<p>Since its establishment in 1985, more than 350 firefighters have taken part in the program.<\/p>\n<p>Crews are based at Heyfield and Ovens and can be deployed across the state.<\/p>\n<p>When they are not deployed to fires, rappel teams help deliver FFMVic&#8217;s land and fire management works, including assessing and treating hazardous trees and clearing tracks.<\/p>\n<p>Each year, crews have several weeks of training in readiness for the fire season.<\/p>\n<p>Training began this month for both returning and new members across Victoria, including in Melbourne, Ovens, Heyfield and Howqua.<\/p>\n<p>To be eligible for the program, new members must have had firefighting experience and a good level of fitness, but abseiling experience is not required.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 601px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/RappelAltona14Oct_JQ_79164.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"601\" height=\"401\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crews are based at Heyfield and Ovens and can be deployed across the state.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Training starts at the rappel tower at the Fire Equipment Development Centre at Altona, which includes a helicopter mock-up.<\/p>\n<p>Once students have demonstrated their competency in rappelling, they progress to a helicopter. Initial rappels take place at about 120 feet, gradually increasing to 300 feet.<\/p>\n<p>The training is led by Bryan Rees, DEECA senior aviation operations officer, who has been a part of the rappel program since its start.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I&#8217;m proud to have been involved in the rappel program over 40 seasons and to see how far it has come.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lives, properties, infrastructure and landscapes have undoubtedly been saved by having the ability to put firefighters on the ground so soon after a fire is detected.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/RappelAltona14Oct_JQ_79241.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Each year, crews have several weeks of training in readiness for the fire season.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We aim to instill a strong sense of teamwork, discipline and safety in our crews during training. Once rappel crews are on the ground, they are firefighters like any other.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman said four decades of the rappel program was an incredible milestone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Rappelling is a critical part of the way we fight fires in remote or difficult terrain, allowing us to stop small fires before they become big fires.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Rappel training is just one of the ways FFMVic is preparing for this year&#8217;s fire season. This is a great reminder to the community that they too have a role to play.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We encourage all Victorians to take steps to prepare for the summer ahead.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THIS summer, Forest Fire Management Victoria&#8217;s (FFMVic) helicopter rappel program is celebrating 40 years of delivering forest firefighters to fight some of the state&#8217;s most remote and inaccessible bushfires. Rappelling uses specialist equipment to transport firefighters from a hovering helicopter to the ground. This allows fire crews to deploy quickly to remote and mountainous locations [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":149070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-149057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fighting fires from the air for 40 years - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Celebrating 40 years of fighting fires from the air! 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Learn about our aerial firefighting strategies and dedication to protecting communities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"jamespetertaylor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-04T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/Untitled-design-7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@notthatjt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2655215c02475fb33ffa43a1c8fe2677\"},\"headline\":\"Fighting fires from the air for 40 years\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-04T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":525,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fighting fires from the air for 40 years - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/fighting-fires-from-the-air-for-40-years\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-04T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Celebrating 40 years of fighting fires from the air! 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