A Melton firefighter was one of 20 Victorian firefighters battling the worst wildfires in the history of the United States.
Dozens of firefighters from around the world, including Operations Officer Jayson Hirt, lent helping hands to bring under control a disastrous blaze, which burned more than 450,000 hectares and was dubbed a “federal emergency” by President Barack Obama.
Mr Hirt was deployed to the US for six weeks, arriving back home on September 30.
Less than a week later, he was back in his office co-ordinating strike teams battling the fires at Lancefield and Calder Park.
Mr Hirt said that despite firefighting similarities between the two countries, there were some stark differences.
“They have a lot of people involved in firefighting over their summer period,” Mr Hirt said. “And nearly all of them are career or contract firefighters; there’s very few volunteers.”
He said he had benefited from watching another organisation manage its teams in a different way, and he will learn from them.
Amid all the gloom and doom of the US fires – three firefighters died shortly before the Australian and New Zealand contingent arrive Mr Hirt said he had forged friendships, networks and new connections.
“When we first arrived, there was a really overwhelming feeling of loss,” he said. “But everybody got on with it; they were very, very happy for us to arrive to fill in some of the skill gaps.”
