Firefighters from Mataura and Te Anau cross ditch
Five Southland firefighters are heading to Victoria to battle massive bush fires raging in the Australian state. How long they’ll be there is anyone’s guess.
Four firefighters from Mataura and one from Te Anau leave on Monday for a deployment that will last at least 20 days, though they don’t have return tickets yet.
While some of the crew have battled fires in Australia before, it’ll be Neil Gardyne’s first time.
‘‘The other guys have told me a lot,’’ he said yesterday while fitting gear at the Kingswell fire station.
‘‘It’s good work going over there because they’ll be able to help me, and it’s good experience.’’
Gardyne, who’s been a firefighter for 12 years, isn’t the only first-timer in the group.
Grant Tremain is the Department of Conservation’s conservation services manager for Fiordland recreation and historic team.
‘‘It’ll be something different. But we’re expecting some pretty hard work. It’s a very different climate to Fiordland as well.’’
Though he has lived in Mataura for the past decade, Napolioni Qasevakatini said the heat in Australia would be similar to his native Fiji.
‘‘It’s really dry. It’s really tough. It’s very different from Southland.’’
Qasevakatini said he last fought bush fires in Victoria in 2013, which gave him an idea of what he could expect this time around.
Fellow Fijian and Mataura resident Vuniyani Qoro said he’d been to Australia four times to fight fires. The steep terrain would likely be a challenge, but he always felt refreshed coming back to Southland after being on the fire lines.
The Southlanders would all be working together in a crew under the leadership of Tuturau man Warren Heslip. All of them except Tremain also worked for Heslip at Heslip Forest Contracting Ltd.
Heslip said such familiarity would definitely help in conditions where crews would have to work for more than 10 hours per day with gear that could weigh more than 13kg.
‘‘Victoria can have four seasons in one day. In 2014 it was 42.6 [degrees Celsius].’’
Heslip, who went to the United States in August to battle wildfires, said he had fought fires in Australia four times previously.
It was especially important to stay hydrated in Victoria’s dry heat, Heslip said. Despite the discomfort, it was important to help.
‘‘I like the challenge. I like getting a job well done. It’s just trying to help.’’
Southern Rural Fire operations manager Elton Smith said the Southlanders would be part of a New Zealand taskforce of about 20 firefighters. They would be joining Invercargill firefighter Keri Tuna and 22 other Kiwi firefighters, who flew out of Wellington on January 3.
Several bushfires in Victoria have torched thousands of hectares so far this summer. The largest fire, near the town of Wye River, has burned more than 2500 hectares, and destroyed 116 homes on Christmas Day.