Members of the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) and firefighters from Fire and Rescue Victoria (FRV) have been deployed to support the ongoing flood situation in New South Wales (NSW).
VICSES said the weather event had caused one of the biggest floods in decades, with four times the monthly average rainfall hitting the State and over 7,000 requests for assistance.
“A dozen senior VICSES staff members arrived to support our allies in NSW on Sunday, with two groups departing Melbourne across the day including members from Central, North East, North West and Mid West teams,” VICSES said.
“Since then, Victoria has been requested to provide additional Incident Management Team (IMT) resources to various locations, with another group departing Monday,” it said.
Chief Officer Operations of VICSES, Tim Wiebusch said that as the situation in NSW was ongoing, the commitment from VICSES was likely to be quite significant however, the operational capability of the Service in Victoria would remain intact.
Fire Rescue Commissioner Ken Block said 16 FRV Swift Water Rescue specialists were deployed to Bega and Moruya, along with three incident management staff who would assist in Bankstown and Goulburn.
“FRV’s Swift Water Rescue firefighters will be utilised to perform rescues, evacuate people and animals, deliver supplies and provide emergency care,” Commissioner Block said.
“These highly skilled specialists have extensive experience and training and can perform complex rescues in waterways, including pulling people from fast-moving water,” he said.
“They will assist our interstate colleagues to help keep people safe during this dynamic situation.”
Commissioner Block said FRV had also deployed three four-wheel drive vehicles, equipped with specialist rescue gear, to be used by FRV crews and additional firefighters.
He said FRV’s incident management staff would help co-ordinate rescue efforts from local control centres, while staff in Melbourne would provide support remotely.
