More Central Victorian firefighters are heading to NSW to help crews who have been battling bushfires for weeks.
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About 70 bushfires were still burning in NSW on Friday, with more than 250 homes already destroyed. At least 60 fires were also burning across Queensland.
About 50 firefighters from central Victoria headed to NSW on Monday to assist fatiguing crews. The two Country Fire Authority strike teams - consisting of a total of 10 tankers - will return home on Friday evening.
"Our teams have had long days, but they have been able to provide great support to the NSW Rural Fire Service," CFA Duty Commander Hugh Kelly said.
"We have also heard from the local fire brigades and communities that they are happy and glad to see support from Victoria."
The strike teams started in Singleton where they helped Rural Fire Service crews contain blazes for about two days, before they moved to help with the fire in Glen Innes.
"They have been doing burning out and back burning to help contain the main fire burning in remote NSW," Commander Kelly said. "They're trying to stop the fire coming out by taking the fuel out in front of it."
With the two strike force teams returning home, another central Victorian crew has taken their place. About 25 firefighters from the region were sent to NSW on Thursday night to assist with back burning efforts.
Another team of 18 people from the Bendigo and Mount Macedon brigades will also leave for NSW on Saturday.
The destruction along the north-east coast of Australia bares some similarities to what Victoria experienced 10 years ago.
The Black Saturday bushfires burnt through 450,000 hectares of land, killing 173 people and destroying more than 2000 homes.
Junortoun volunteer firefighter Mark Zulian, 64, was a fresh recruit to the brigade when he was called to the fire at Bracewell Street on February 7, 2009.
"It was a baptism of fire because it was such a big job," Mr Zulian said. "The day itself was pretty horrendous.
"The temperature was in the high 40s and there were strong winds so it was a recipe for disaster. All you needed was a fire.
"But personally what affected me more was immediately after that day. I was with a group of people from Bendigo that went to relieve down at Whittlesea.
"Because we were not there on Black Saturday but in the subsequent days, the images were probably more stark.
"We weren't quite as busy and it wasn't quite as horrific - we were doing mop ups and back burning - but the impact and the scale had a bigger impact on me.
"It was a fair while before I could even go back to that area."
Junortoun Fire Brigade lieutenant Ray Mundy, 73, was much more experienced when he was called to assist on Black Saturday.
"We were dispatched to Kilmore East when the fire first broke out down there," he said. "We were on route to Kilmore East when the fire at Redesdale broke out.
"So we were redeployed to Redesdale where we attempted to stop the fire at the Kyneton-Redesdale Road. But the fire jumped over us there and just kept going.
"It was about 30 kilometres later when we finally caught the fire. We were there until 2am the next morning and we came back home about 3am.
"We were redeployed to Bracewell Street at 7am. We did a full shift until 6pm that night and then we were basically on and off day shift and night shift for the next fortnight until it was all under control."
The two men were among ten Eppalock Group firefighters who received National Emergency Medals for their efforts on Black Saturday.
The firefighters from the Heathcote, Mia Mia, and Junortoun brigades were honoured at a special presentation in Heathcote last month.
"I'm very proud obviously," Mr Zulian said. "It was gratifying in a way to be recognised and it's something I'm definitely proud to receive. I'll wear it with pride.
"But there are an awful lot of people doing an awful lot of work out there and they get no recognition. It's just part of the job."
Mr Mundy has been involved with the CFA for more than 50 years and fought in the 1984 Ash Wednesday bushfires. He said the last thing he wanted was an accolade.
"I was proud to receive a medal but I'm not in it for medals and not in it for gratitude," he said. "It's something I believe I was brought up to do. I've come off a farm so I know what fire can do.
"So I just keep trying to stop it - you'll never stop fires but you just keep trying."
Mr Mundy said his desire to help people hadn't wavered - even after seeing the destruction of the Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday fires.
"My resolved hasn't changed," he said. "When I joined in 1964, it was basically to help and protect the community and that has stayed exactly the same.
"I'm proud of what I do and I hope it helps the community. That's what we all do it for."
Mr Zulian said he also never doubted his decision to join the Junortoun Fire Brigade.
"Black Saturday certainly wasn't an enjoyable day," he said. "In no way was it remotely something that you wanted to see again.
"But you don't dwell on the negatives too much. You can't not do it. Black Saturday was bad, car crashes are bad - especially if they involve children - but unfortunately that's life and somebody has to do it.
"I think it would be easy or comfortable to look away and walk away. But I certainly wouldn't want to let my colleagues down.
"They are a great group to work with. That's the satisfaction I get and so you don't dwell so much on the negatives."
Mr Zulian and Mr Mundy are some of the many central Victorian firefighters who will respond to fires this summer.
CFA Duty Commander Hugh Kelly said fires could break out closer to home as soon as next week.
"We're going to experience temperatures in the high 30s with low relative humidity from Wednesday," he said. "We will start to see potential start of the summer fire season come through.
"We want members of the public to make sure they have their fire safety plan locked away and their emergency management app is up to date.
"The CFA is starting to concentrate on the warmer weather that is predicted to come into Victoria. We are planning for what's to come."
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