Six seasonal firefighters have joined park rangers in Moorabool to carry out fire-protection work and respond to bushfires throughout the summer.
Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) and Parks Victoria project firefighters (PFFs) started work in Bacchus Marsh earlier this month. Another five were deployed last week.
Parks Victoria ranger Scott Nicholson said the team would prepare and implement planned burns across Moorabool. “We’ll also deal with any fires on public land,” he said. “We’ve already put out a couple of small fires and conducted fuel-reduction burns in the Blackwood area.”
The team will also be responsible for clearing fire breaks, slashing and removing dead trees and reopening tracks.
DEPI acting regional land and fire manager Hamish Webb said 86 seasonal project firefighters would be available across the broader Grampians region by mid-December. “The initial intake of PFFs is returnees with previous experience so they’ll be getting straight to work,” he said.
Moorabool’s PFFs will remain on the ground until the end of the high-danger period next May.
Meanwhile, four Melton CFA firefighters were last week deployed to New South Wales.
Two career firefighters and two volunteers were deployed for five days.
