Los Angeles firefighters have taken to the skies to tackle blazes, water-bombing from above in an attempt to get hold of the blazes raging across the city.
In the past, Australia has sent its own fleet of aircraft to assist with fires burning overseas, but with the country still in peak bushfire season and having already battled a number of blazes, it is on stand-by locally.
It’s a well-resourced fleet with a growing number of water-bombers ready to strike any bushfire that flares up across the summer period.
What is Australia’s aerial firefighting fleet like?
Australia has about 500 aircraft in total that it can use to combat fires.
Of those, about 170 are contracted to AFAC, the national council for fire and emergency services, each bushfire season.
“In partnership with the states and territories and the Commonwealth, we procure or lease those aircraft each year round or for multiple years, in some cases, to make sure that they’re here from the northern fire season, right down through into the southern fire season,” AFAC chief executive Rob Webb said.
Additional aircraft can be called on during emergencies. (Supplied: Patrick Herve)
There are also some aircraft that are owned locally by the likes of the Rural Fire Service and other state-owned organisations.
The rest make up what’s referred to as a “call when needed” fleet.
These, as the name suggests, can be called on to help during emergencies when additional support is required.
Mr Webb said most of the fleet were from Australian-owned and managed companies.
“There’s probably about seven aircraft that go back and forth overseas each year, but the vast majority of the fleet operates in Australia most of the year, or might have other functions outside the fire season,” he said.
What are the aircraft used for?
There are several types of aircraft, with each serving a different purpose.
AFAC said they were broken down into four categories: large air tankers, large helicopters, medium and small helicopters, and other fixed-wing aircraft.
“The biggest ones that we use here in Australia might drop around about 15,000 litres of retardant on fire,” Mr Webb said.
These include C-130s, which are military transport aircraft, and 737s.
One of the airtankers used to combat Australian fires. (Supplied: Department of Fire and Emergency Services)
“Then there’s the single-engine air tankers that might be either used for aerial firefighting or for crop spraying,” he said.
“They can still drop about 3,000 litres of water and, in many states, they say that they are a really important line of defence to quickly get around fires.”
He said helicopters could drop anything from about 5,000 to 10,000 litres.
“They don’t quite carry as much, but you can get them in and out really quickly,” Mr Webb said.
Former chief fire officer Ewan Waller said the main role of aircraft was to support crew on the ground.
“Aircraft on their own don’t put fires out, but they are great support in holding fires from spreading and also backing up on back-burns and things like that,” he said.
They’re also used for getting intelligence about fires and use different instruments to scan them.
Where are the aircraft located?
The fleet is spread right around the country.
Each state and territory builds its fleet around its own requirements and risk profile.
The fleet is also shared between states when additional support is needed, which is what we saw during the recent Grampians National Park bushfire in north-west Victoria.
“They go where the need is,” Mr Waller said.
“They moved aircraft around Australia to support the agencies, and the mixing of what’s available is pretty important.”
Water-bombers cost about $200 million during a standard bushfire year. (ABC News: Margaret Paul )
Having aircraft located across the country ensures the best resources can be sent quickly to tackle a blaze but no two seasons are the same.
“We’ve never had the coverage that we’ve got this summer,” Mr Webb said.
“But we also know that the threat is increasing, and we’re seeing that the season is lengthening so we’re always going to be looking to do things better and do things smarter.”
Commonwealth-funded research looking at the best way to use each aircraft is currently underway.
The information will help shape the fleet and ensure the aircraft are located in the best places to maximise their use.
Is Australia well prepared?
While aerial firefighting does play an important role in combating bushfires and supporting crew, aircraft are costly.
Mr Webb said during a normal bushfire year the fleet could cost about $200 million.
“But if the 2019/20 bushfires happened under the current scope … costs are getting well over $500 million or $600 million,” he said.
Helicopters are able to drop water more precisely given their smaller size. (NSW Coroner’s Court: Supplied)
Not only does it cost money to have the aircraft on the ground, but there are running costs such as fuel, retardant and pilots’ wages.
“It’s a massive investment and the base cost will only go up with the increases in prices,” he said.
The lengthening and overlapping fire seasons are contributing to the growing expense of leasing suitable aircraft.
And Mr Waller said aircraft were not always effective.
“When fires get up and really start to go hard, like we’re seeing in Los Angeles, there’s very little you can do,” he said.
“The fires are going so hard, burning so quickly with such high intensity, that there’s very little anything or anybody can do to lessen that impact.
“And so bombing it with an aircraft with retardant really is ineffective.”
He said there needed to be greater investment in fire prevention.
“Historically, worldwide, we still concentrate far too much on suppression rather than prevention,” he said.
“If you had resources that you were going to invest in fire, then by far the best investment is in prevention, which is preparing communities and also doing things like fuel-reduction burning and opening up tracks and preparedness.”
Agency says it ensures Australia is ‘best prepared’
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said, along with the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) and the states and territories, it would “progressively review the most effective means for ensuring Australia is best prepared ahead of a forecast season of bushfire risk”.
This included “extensive risk assessments” to determine how firefighting aircraft were deployed, a spokesperson said.
They said the NAFC had contracted a fleet of more than 500 aircraft for the 2024-25 season, which would not be impacted by the US fires.
The agency said it was also leading investment in other capabilities to assist in the preparation and response to bushfires.
This includes the National Bushfire Intelligence Capability which provides national data on bushfire risk and the Australian Fire Danger Rating System so more people can easily understand their risk.
