By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
A FLEET of specialist aircraft will join Victorian firefighting efforts this season, as local crews encourage residents to prepare their properties throughout spring.
The Andrews Labor Government and state fire authorities have allocated more than $20 million to fund 47 aircraft that will remain on standby during summer.
The fleet will include two large air tankers – some of the biggest firefighting aircraft in the world.
Jim Dore of Pakenham CFA welcomed the funding and said now was the time for residents to prepare their properties for the season.
“By the start of December residents should be completely ready. Now is the time for bushfire preparation,” he said.
“It’s going to be a fairly warm spring so people need to ensure their grass is kept short and that their trees are trimmed.”
He said that properties located to the north of Princes Highway were at particularly high risk, and that all homeowners should make sure that their driveways were clear and able to be accessed by CFA vehicles.
Mr Dore added that crews would shortly begin their own preparations.
“We’ll start to run pre-summer exercises with all our brigades to make sure they’re all equipped and ready to go. Our control centres will be operating and up to scratch.
“It’s going to be an especially bad season. We’ll be getting the word out there and making sure that everyone is ready by the start of summer.”
Released yesterday, the Southern Australia Bushfire Outlook published by the Business Co-operative Research Centres Program warned of increased risk of bushfire throughout the 2015-’16 summer.
“The above normal forecast is mostly due to a strengthening El Nino over the Pacific Ocean, currently tracking as one of the strongest on record, but is made more complex this year by the influence of warmer sea temperatures in the Indian Ocean,” it reads.
“There have also been significantly below average rainfalls over the last decade across almost all of eastern Australia, the west coast and Tasmania.
“Such underlying dry conditions mean that any surface moisture from recent rains will quickly decline once temperatures begin to warm.”
The Bushfire Outlook is used by fire authorities to allocate resources and plan for the season. In a statement released today, Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett said the aircraft would be crucial in defending Victoria following the predictions.
“We’re funding these specialist aircraft to give our firefighters the critical resources they need on the frontline this summer,” she said.
“We’re bracing for a long, hot and dry summer fire season and these aircraft will help protect communities which may come under threat of bushfires.
Last summer, more than a million litres of fire retardant was dropped by the Victorian aircraft fleet to assist in firefighting efforts.
This year’s fleet is due to arrive in Victoria in November, unless required earlier.
