A group of central Victorian firefighters have returned from battling fires in Gippsland.
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The crew made up of 24 Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighters from Bendigo, Heathcote, Castlemaine, Inglewood, St Arnaud, Avoca and Cohuna arrived home on Tuesday.
Murray Goldfields senior forest fire officer Jeff Wilkie said the team fought the Waterford McCarthy Spur fire near Dargo that was ignited by lightning strikes last week.
“Our firefighters worked in very remote country and were tasked with building a containment line on the northern edge of the fire to stop it from jumping to the next ridge,” Mr Wilkie said.
“They hiked into the area and used hand tools, including chainsaws and rake hoes, to manually build a containment line.”
Vehicles were unable to access the area but the firefighters were supported by water bombing aircraft, Mr Wilkie said.
“The mountainous terrain in Gippsland is very different to the landscape our firefighters are used to here in central Victoria so it was a good experience for many of our crew to put their skills to the test in a different environment,” he said.
“Depending on conditions and requirements, another contingent of central Victorian Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighters may travel to Gippsland on Saturday to further assist with the fires in that part of the state.”