RFS using aircraft at night for first time at Wuuluman fire
Published Date: 15 Jan 2017
Summary
For the first time ever the Rural Fire Service will use aircraft on Sunday night to monitor the Wuuluman fire and assist firefighters in the hope of bringing it under control.
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By Mark Rayner
Normally aircraft would be grounded as night set in but on Sunday the RFS announced helicopters would work to assist ground crews.
Despite a series of flare ups, Orana RFS team leader Lyndon Wieland was quietly confident the fire could be officially listed as contained on Monday.
It has been a long, hard battle to get to that stage, with the fire that started on Wednesday burning through more than 2670 hectares.
Superintendent Wieland said a helicopter equipped with infrared and night scoping would focus on hotspots in a bid to stop the fire breaking containment lines.
"This is the first time this technology has been used in NSW and it's very exciting to be able to do it," he said.
"Normally the aircraft would knock off at last light but the problem is that in inaccessible country, that has made it impossible to know what the fire is doing and if it is flaring up."
Crews worked hard on Saturday night to mop up and black out areas to ensure the fire couldn’t reignite. They also strengthened containment lines, performing backburning operations when conditions allowed.
Aircraft including the large air tanker “Thor” and very large air tanker “Southern Belle” were active around the scene along with air crane "Elsie" and a number of fixed-wing planes.
The use of so many different aircraft at the Wuuluman fire was another first for the RFS.
On the ground more 80 firefighters and “many, many” tankers were hard at work, Superintendent Wieland said.
Their efforts had slowed the fire’s progress, he said.
“The fire didn’t make a lot of advance, it was caught by containment lines. We are working towards being able to call the fire contained or under control and we hope to be able to achieve that by Sunday afternoon or Monday,” Superintendent Wieland said.
Superintendent Wieland praised the work of volunteers and said their dedication, with the assistance of aircraft, had ensured the fire didn't endanger lives or burn any further territory.
A number of small fires had flared up in other parts of the Orana Region over the weekend including one started by power lines and another at Euchareena sparked by a vehicle moving through long grass.
Superintendent Wieland asked people to be mindful of the danger before undertaking any activity in hot weather.
