Canberra Airport is to host the ACT Emergency Services’ first fire-bombing air base.
The base will fill large air tankers for bushfire suppression.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Mick Gentleman; Commissioner of Emergency Services, Dom Lane; Assistant Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service, Jason Heffernan; and Managing Director of Canberra Airport, Stephen Byron joined up to make the official announcement.
Mr Gentleman said the air base would be used to fill large air tankers with mixed fire retardant or gel depending on the firefighting requirements.
“A significant benefit of the air base is the ability to store 60,000 litres of mixed retardant that is immediately available for loading into large air tankers,” Mr Gentleman said.
He said the addition of the base would not only benefit the ACT region, but would boost available resources within the NSW and Victorian Rural Fire Services to provide support and additional options for filling tankers, minimising the need to travel longer distances to re-supply.
Mr Heffernan said the NSW Government had contracted four tankers.
“The commissioning of this air base is another significant initiative in place to ensure the ACT and NSW is bushfire ready,” Mr Heffernan said.
Mr Byron said the airport had been instrumental in supporting the introduction of the base and the tankers that would be stationed at the Canberra Airport during the approaching fire season.
The group said there will be 35 Air Base Operators and six Air Base Managers within the ACT who will undergo training to manage and run the base.
