Around 300 Victorian emergency services personnel will travel to South Australia today to assist with firefighting efforts in the state’s Pinery region.
Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said crews would assist their counterparts at Country Fire Service (CFS) for five days as weather conditions eased in Victoria.
“Victoria experienced extreme fire danger and weather yesterday that saw personnel respond to more than 100 grass and scrub fires and around 850 SES Requests for Assistance,” Mr Lapsley said.
“However, thanks to initial attack by on ground personnel and aircraft we were able to bring fires under control quickly and didn’t see any major fire activity in Victoria.
“Unfortunately, conditions were more severe in South Australia where a number of people have died and have been injured as a result of bushfires which continue to burn, north of Adelaide.
“Our thoughts are with our South Australian colleagues and communities at this difficult time.”
Mr Lapsley said Victoria was fortunate to be in a position to send assistance to South Australia in the way of on ground firefighters, strike teams, vehicles and incident management personnel. Crews are from Country Fire Authority (CFA), Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Parks Victoria, State Emergency Service (SES) and Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) and will staff incident management teams and crew trucks.
“Our personnel are from areas least affected or at risk of fire in Victoria and will return on Monday ahead of more hot weather forecast in parts of the state on Tuesday,” Mr Lapsley said.
“We have also ensured we have the right resources on fires which continue to burn in Victoria at Somerton and Strathdownie and ensuring these fires are made safe continue to be a priority for us.”
Mr Lapsley said Victoria has a strong network of firefighters and emergency management personnel who operate in specialist roles and we are pleased to be able to share these resources and expertise with our interstate counterparts.
“Australia has cross-border arrangements for sharing personnel, resources and aircraft and it is important that we continue to operate with no borders and support each other where needed,” he said.
Media contacts: State Control Centre Media on 03 9032 3600
