A firebombing helicopter may have only been in Shepparton for about three weeks, but already it has seen plenty of action this summer.
The Firebird 327 Airbus AS350 B3 Squirrel arrived in Shepparton on December 8 and will be at Shepparton airport for the summer.
Ian Sloan, one of the three pilots who fly the helicopter on a rotational basis, said this fire season had already kept the helicopter busy.
Call-outs have included a crop stubble fire at Katamatite where two helicopters helped put out a fire started by a header.
Another was to help extinguish a blaze in the Strathbogie Ranges near Euroa that was started by a lightning strike.
Another time it was called to was a grass fire at Invergordon that was started from a water pump.
Mr Sloan said, on average, the helicopter would be called out to jobs five days a week, although several of these would be “turnarounds” where it was not needed.
However, he said once the weather warmed up more he would expect call-outs most days.
The helicopter is used throughout the bushfire season by Forest Fire Management Victoria, CFA and Fire Rescue Victoria to respond to fires.
It mainly covers a region bounded by Echuca, Euroa and Cobram, but could also be sent to help fight large fires in other areas when needed.
This single-engine helicopter is predominantly used for firebombing and is equipped with an 1100 litre firebombing tank.
The tank system refills in a hover in about 45 seconds.
Mr Sloan said a lot of the work of the Shepparton-based helicopter was for grassfires in the Shepparton area, while in Echuca and Cobram it tended to be more fires in the bush along the Murray River started from campfires that were not put out properly.
He predicts that there won’t be the big “campaign fires” that have been seen in Victoria in recent years because of the way the bush is this year.
“We will see more grass fires in paddocks,” he said.
“That’s where our main focus is for summer.”
Mr Sloan said this year would probably be a “pretty normal year” for fires in the region.
He said that while the wind was drying things out, there was still rain occurring that was wetting things down.
A pilot in the firebombing helicopters for the past 18 years, Mr Sloan said work was constant for those pilots based in Shepparton for the fire season.
“I feel like we are on the go all the time,” he said.
“It’s not a quiet place to be stationed.”
The Squirrel helicopter at Shepparton is just one of a fleet of firefighting helicopters based in north-east Victoria during the summer period.
Forest Fire Management Victoria deputy chief fire officer Aaron Kennedy said aircraft played a critical role when responding to fires.
“On high fire danger days, as soon as the call goes out to respond, firebombing aircraft will be dispatched so we can hit the fire hard and fast in the initial stages and keep fires small,” Mr Kennedy said.
CFA Hume region acting assistant chief fire officer Colin Brown said the aircraft would support on-ground firefighters to contain fires both on private property and public land.
“Dispatching the aircraft with ground crews, fire trucks and bulldozers increases our ability to rapidly contain or limit the size and spread of fires,” he said.