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The small town of Noojee recently became the centre of a multi-agency training exercise, gathering 70 local personnel to prepare for the upcoming high risk fire season in West Gippsland.
Eight brigades within CFA’s Baw Baw Group were involved in the exercise, staged around the primary school on Sunday (21 September), along with Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic).
Given the location, the focus of the exercise was to provide an opportunity for firefighters to operate in larger teams to address two emerging fires on the urban fringe and develop firefighting and leadership skills ahead of the season that could see their community impacted.
Noojee Fire Brigade Captain and Exercise Controller Dave Blacker said it was one the biggest exercises he had coordinated for CFA and was very pleased with the outcomes.
“Our firefighters got a lot out of it, and we put time pressures on the Incident Controllers and strike team leaders, so the incident was more realistic,” Dave said.
“Managing communication while the exercise is unfolding can be particularly challenging, and those within the incident management teams were learning a lot about controlling their environment.
“You have everyone coming up to you all the time and it can be really hard to focus on your core jobs, but we gave them a mentor they could fall back on throughout the day.”
Dave said community engagement was significantly emphasised over the course of the day, with West Gippsland identified as a high-risk area for bushfire risk this spring and summer.
Crew members were also able to practice management of civilian interaction, burn over drills, truck driving, asset protection, radio reporting, and general firefighting techniques.
“We gave them time and support to go through all the hoops, and community warnings were getting a strong focus, as was thinking ahead,” Dave said.
“We had people from the Warragul Theatre Company come down to make life difficult for the control team and firefighters, acting as sticky beaks, as well as concerned and angry community members.”
Drone capabilities were tested overheard, with aerial observation and reporting taking place by Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), delivering live visual and verbal data from the fire front to the control centre.
“We were using the drones to hunt an arsonist, a scenario we had created, as well as spotfires. The drone operators were learning an awful lot, and I was really impressed with the infrared images they retrieved,” Dave said.
“We also use tennis balls with tails as spotfire simulators. If you toss one of those anywhere in the Baw Baw Group, they’re going to grab a hose and squirt it or stamp on it. It is ingrained.”
With Noojee surrounded by crown land, Dave said exercise sequences are increasingly becoming multi agency, as in most cases local brigades work side by side with FFMVic crews.
“We had quite a few people who had just completed their General Firefighter course who were jumping on a truck for the first time, it was quite exciting for them to be a part of it,” Dave said.
“This was the first time a lot of them had encountered FFMVic’s equipment and resources, and FFMVic were really enthusiastic supporters of this activity.
“It was a really worthwhile exercise to showcase what can be achieved when we work with the FFMVic dozers and crews and how they can assist us.
“What I really reinforce within my team is, if you get on scene and can’t control the fire with your tanker, take a moment to identify where a bigger response needs to be engineered and what resources you can request.”
This exercise follows a similar exercise held at Erica the week before. Baw Baw Group is highly invested in preparing both their crews and the community for what could arise over coming months.