A regional Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighter will assist with the “destructive and devastating” wildfires currently burning on the USA’s west coast.
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Avoca-based John Moser is one of the 188 Australian and New Zealand crew members who are being deployed to the USA.
He started at FFMVic in 2001 as a project fire fighter and now serves as a forest and fire operations officer.
“I’ll be working as a sector commander in America, a role that oversees a section of the fire and the resources available to fight it,” Mr Moser said.
“The Americans have assisted us previously so this is a great opportunity for me to support our overseas friends and colleagues in their time of need.
“I have experience fighting bushfires in many different parts of Victoria including the 2002/3 Big Desert fire, the 2009 Black Saturday fire in Myrtleford, various campaigns in Gippsland and of course bushfires close to home in the Pyrenees.
“I’m eager to apply my skills overseas in a new environment and do what I can to assist.
“This is my first deployment overseas so I’m also keen to learn from their systems and bring that knowledge back to Victoria.”
Fire activity continues across 14 USA states, with approximately 140 large fires burning around 513,000 hectares of land.