Raging firefight

the fire but they are mindful of the amount of foam they use as it’s detrimental to the environment. playing a part in getting the fire under control.

All rural firefighters must know and operate by the Laces rule. It stands for: Lookout, Awareness, Communications, Escape route, and Safety zone.

This is a mantra that all rural firefighters must learn and act on, says Sutton.

Crews are on a 12-hour shift working two hours on and one hour off.

‘‘It’s been hard work today. They have been exposed, not just to the fire and smoke, but the sun and the wind. We have to keep an eye on the accumulation fatigue.’’

Most crew have four-wheel drives to get them to the areas they are going to fight. Where there is no road access, they walk.

All are well trained, with some having experiences dousing mega-fires in Australia and North America. ‘‘Now, if we had fires like they do in those places, we would run out of land and all be in the water,’’ says Sutton.