Community & Business
5 November, 2024
Black hawk touches down
THE region’s firefighting capacity has been massively boosted following the Queensland Fire Department’s decision to relocate a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to Mareeba to assist crews who are tackling bushfires on a daily basis.
In the past couple of weeks alone, crews have responded to numerous outbreaks that have threatened areas including Mareeba, Biboohra, Mutchilba, Mt Garnet, Ravenshoe and Innot Hot Springs.
The UH-60 Black Hawk made its way from Bundaberg to the Mareeba Airport on Sunday and is a fire-fighting machine specifically designed to carry a large amount of water to assist in combatting bushfires.
The large firefighting aircraft has the capacity to be in the air for around two hours and can carry a total of 3,800 litres of water that can be dropped immediately or dispersed as required.
“I wanted to make sure we had a heavier weight of attack and a larger machine in this part of the country with the dry conditions,” Northern Region Deputy Chief Officer Tony Johnstone said.
“It’s an opportunity to bring another machine up into the north and far north to showcase what is available, and that we are serious about moving resources around the state of Queensland to make sure we support our people.
“There wasn’t much utilisation in the south-east because there’s plenty of resources and they’ve had some wet weather, so I put in a request to move it to Mareeba.”
With much of the region’s landscape a brittle tinderbox, a fire ban has not yet been declared, but Mr Johnstone said discussions were being had and urged people to err on the side of caution.
“Fire bans are currently being discussed and may come on at certain triggers, but we’d hate for people to be putting fire in the landscape unnecessarily,” he said.
As well as celebrating the relocation of the Black hawk to Mareeba on Sunday, local brigades attended a barbecue which was hosted by the Queensland Fire Department as an opportunity to thank them for their work to date in the 2024 bushfire season.
He also commended volunteers for their dedication in assisting local fire crews.
“I would like to thank the property owners, the community and the volunteer members that have given up their time to help fight these fires, and also the councils and other resources that have supported when fires have emerged – everyone deserves to be commended for their work,” Mr Johnstone said.
