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Serco
assist with the refuelling of firefighting helicopters at
Albatross.
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Photo:
ABPH Bradley Darvill
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By
Graham Davis.
When
a serious bushfire fuelled by fierce north-westerly winds swept
through sections of north Nowra on October 13 destroying buildings
and putting 50 residents to flight, the Navy and its contractors
once again helped a community in crisis.
Keeping three special water bombing and observation helicopters
for two days became the job of HMAS Albatross and its garrison
contractor Serco Sodhexo.
The Navy provided air traffic control for two Firebirds, a Huey,
a Bell 407 and a Jetranger, while Serco provided the vital aircraft
with fuel. Serco’s on airfield fire brigade provided safety protection
while the aircraft were being refuelled.
On base checks were made with squadrons to determine what Service
helicopters might be available to water bomb should the emergency
worsen.
The three civilian owned aircraft, under contract to the Rural
Fire Service, flew more than a dozen sorties each during the 36
hour declared emergency.
The larger helicopters carried Bambi buckets and scooped water
from the Shoalhaven River to drop on the hottest spots of blaze.
The Jetranger carried experienced fire spotter.
“A house, factory, sheds and fences were destroyed,” Superintendent
Adam Rogers, the Shoalhaven Fire Control Officer, told Navy News.
About 50 residents were evacuated by police “In all 47 tankers
and pumpers with 200 firefighters from the Rural Fire Service,
the NSW Fire Brigades and the National Parks and Wildlife Service,
attended the fire.
“A total of 220 hectares of bushland were blackened.”
