A misty, wet night in the hills might not seem ideal for learning about bushfire burnover drills, but that didn’t stop around 60 firefighters from the Dandenong Ranges, Knox and Forest Fire Management Victoria heading to Sassafras last Wednesday.
Every CFA firefighter must undertake at least one burnover drill annually. It’s a procedure designed to save lives should a vehicle they are in become trapped and overrun by fire.
For Upper Ferntree Gully Captain Peter Smith and his fellow firefighter Mark Goodchild, this is just what happened at the Nixons Road fire in Belgrave South in 2009. While the truck was destroyed, they walked away to tell the tale, helped by safety features on modern CFA tankers, including heatshield curtains and external sprinklers.
The pair were on hand to relate their experience and share the lessons learned this week with firefighters from the Sassafras-Ferny Creek, Kallista-The Patch, Kalorama-Mount Dandenong, Olinda, Rowville, Upper Ferntree Gully and Boronia brigades.
With different trucks across the region and various protection systems, the session was also an opportunity to check out safety procedures across the range.
Sassafras-Ferny Creek Captain Jeff Harbourd said he was delighted by the turnout. “We all need to revisit this drill constantly because you never know when it might be needed,” he said.
