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Protecting the Community - Cumner Road Ripley, July 2011

As the 2011 fire season intensified in July, the Brigade was responded to a bushfire near Bayliss and Cumner Roads at South Ripley. The following couple of days between July 10th and 11th was a real shake down for brigade members as they along with support from Greenbank RFB, Pine Mountain RFB and Mutdapily RFB members tackled a scrub fire in billy goat country. Over 60 hectares of grasslands and heavy scrub was burnt out in a chase against time before the fire spread into neighboring conservation park or impacted on nearby rural residences.

Day One - 10th July 2011

The fire soon became clearly visible from the station as multiple crews were responded.

On approach to the fire.

Initial responding crews had the areas of grass on fire under control quickly but the fire had spread into the hills which were covered in thick lantana and other scrub.

Not the best environment to fight a fire.

Greenbank RFB sent GN51 and GN52 to support Ripley crews on the 10th July. In this shot, GN52 follows RV52 up into the scrub.

It soon became an exercise to make tracks just to access the fire.

Ripley Valley crews give Incident Controller, John Bowles a briefing.

Luckily there were plenty of dams nearby for water.

Mid afternoon saw the incident control handed over to George Ganzenmuller and the crew from Mutdapily RFB arrived.

Unfortunately the fire made it into inaccessible areas before crews could get it all under control. Helicopter support was made available and was put into use for reconnaissance and water bombing.

A video of the aerial footage taken in the afternoon on the 10th July can be accessed by Clicking Here.

After the water bombing missions, ground crews tidied up the fire line as best they could. Mother nature also kicked in to subdue the fire. It had been brought under control and blacking out completed around 20:00 hours but the line was precarious due to the dense scrub coverage near the exposed ridge.

Crews returned to stations that evening. Gary (aka Chucka) and Matt P shared their stories with Clayton and Steve (aka Squirt) who had manned the station all day. Chucka is the one with the serious need for a bath.

Mapping of the days activities revealed additional information.

Day Two - 11th July

Sure enough; something broke the line in one of the heavier timbered areas over night and a small break out occurred.

Ripley Valley RFB crews were joined by Pine Mountain RFB with their 41 and 51 appliances.

The task was to put a small back-burn along a track to the west of the fire and patrol the main line from the day before to prevent further activity. Crews accessed the fire via O'Dempsey Road and the incident controller was Matt Mulroney.

The high pressure hose system on RV52 came in extremely handy with rapid and far reaching control of the lines; especially up steep slopes.

Pine Mountain RFB crews closely monitoring the track as the back burn was put in because of the overgrown state of the track in places.

Chucka, Brian and Tony having a break from the hard work; or so they claimed.

Blacking out and overhauling the incident did actually present a lot of work. Plenty of superhuman efforts all around.

Area made safe; all crews safe; job well done. Crews continued to monitor into the evening. A big thank you to all crews who helped.

Photo of the Campaign:

"Multi tasking at its best, Controlling my sector and making a cuppa at the same time" - Matt Mulroney

 

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