Water bombers support firefighters at the front

Firefighters have been battling a major bushfire at Duck’s Creek in the Pilliga Forest near Narrabri in the last few days.

The fire which had burned out 28,630 hectares as of yesterday was being fought by 88 firefighters and had forced the closure of the Newell Highway for some time.

Firefighters worked along the highway which was re-opened with lower speed limits yesterday morning.

The Duck’s Creek fire is the major blaze in the district. Another fire at Berrygill had burned out 367 ha as of yesterday. No homes or buildings have been lost in the fires. National Parks personnel have bulldozed containment lines ahead of the fire.

Personnel from Narrabri have been joined by firefighters from the north, mid and central coast areas plus a strike team from Sydney.

The fire fighting operations are conducted from the Fire Control Centre, the Narrabri Shire depot, at Narrabri said public information officer Kate Carter.

“There are 12 aircraft deployed, based at Narrabri, six fixed wing firebombers and six helicopters,” Ms Carter said. Higher temperatures and low humidity plus wind is expected to bring further challenges in the next few days.

Meanwhile, while the Fire Control Centre is a hive of activity and fire-fighters are working in the hot and dangerous conditions at the fire front, Narrabri Airport is the hub for the aerial attack on the fires.

A fleet of wheeled Air Tractors have ben joined by their amphibious cousins, two Firebosses – Air Tractors equipped with floats to land on lakes and dams and scoop up a tankful of water – plus two Blackhawk helicopters and a RFS Bell 412 are based at the airport.

“So far 500,000 litres of water have been flown from Narrabri to the fire front,” said Narrabri Airbase manager Brendon Sadler.

The Fireboss 802 Air Tractors carry 3150 litres of water or a mix of fire retardant or gel and water plus 1400 litres of fuel in wing tanks.

The amphibious Air Tractors are loaded with water pumped from tanks at the Narrabri Airbase – there are no suitable bodies of water nearby.

“We are using them as normal wheeled water bombers,” said Mr Sadler. The float equipped water bombers were very effective particularly if they could be filled from water bodies close to bushfires, a pilot said.

Dams like Split Rock and Copeton are ideal reservoirs for the amphibious aircraft which scoop up water into their tank, not into the floats, for their runs over the fire fronts.