New firefighting planes for Victoria
Victoria's firefighters have been given a boost ahead of a predicted significant fire season with three new fire-bombing aircraft.
The new aircraft will bring the existing Victorian fleet up to 46 and allow Victorian fire services to get to fires faster.
Bushfire Response Minister Kim Wells said it was crucial for Victoria to be ready ahead of a hot, dry summer.
"With early forecasts indicating the state will face another significant fire season, it is absolutely crucial that our fire agencies are well resourced with specialist firefighting equipment," Mr Wells told reporters on Thursday.
The government put forward $7.15 million to fund the new aircraft, which feature two fixed-wing airtankers and a firebombing helicopter, supported by an air attack plane to assist the larger aircraft.
Emergency management commissioner Craig Lapsley said the two airtankers, which will be based at Avalon, will be able to get to fires at great speed.
"Both of them are very large and it's the first time Australia will see them operationally run," Mr Lapsley said.
"The RJ85 which has got 12,000 litres of water and can fly at around 700km per hour can move across the state extremely quickly."
The 46 aircraft operate out of 20 airbases across the state, based on fire risk, and a new firebomber will be based in the Latrobe Valley.
Consultation following the 2009 Black Saturday and this year's East Gippsland bushfires suggested that four new aircraft would form the missing link in Victoria's firefighting capabilities.
"What was missing were these two large airtankers with the 17,000 and 12,000 litres of either water, foam or retardant to deal with an initial attack and that's what we needed," Mr Wells said.
"We have listened to some of the feedback from people across Victoria in fire-affected areas, especially people in East Gippsland, and the comments they made were all around the initial attack."
The findings of an emergency management inspector-general's report into the East Gippsland fires and 2013-14 bushfire season will be released on Monday.
VICTORIA'S FIREFIGHTING AIRCRAFT:
2 large fixed wing airtankers based at Avalon
1 firebombing helicopter based at La Trobe
2 Erickson Aircranes capable of dropping 7500 litres
22 firebombing and support helicopters
12 single engine airtankers
7 infrared line scanning and firespotting aircraft.
