A Black Hawk helicopter will be the region's front-line aerial firefighter this summer, arriving at Ballarat Airfield this week ready to douse fires or transport equipment to the firefront.
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The Black Hawk, more commonly seen on military airfields, is a new addition to Victoria's aerial firefighting fleet for the 2022-23 summer season.
It will be based at Ballarat with a smaller AS-350 Squirrel helicopter that acts as the air observer platform for the Black Hawk when it is fighting fires.
Kestrel Aviation pilot John Walsh said the Black Hawk was like a "Swiss Army knife in its adaptability", able to drop up to 4000 litres of water on a fire from its tank or drop water using a bucket and long line, and within 30 minutes can be converted to lift loads up to 4000kg.
It is also faster than previous firefighting helicopters based at Ballarat, able to travel at 140 knots (almost 260kmh) when loaded and up to 155 knots (almost 290kmh) without the tank when travelling to a location to lift a load.
"The beauty of it is the Black Hawk has been used by the military for a long time for its durability in the field, and its speed allows up to move around very quickly ... which adds a new dimension to our dispatch," Mr Walsh said.
The Black Hawk will cover fires this summer across much of western Victoria, supported by fixed wing firefighting aircraft further west in the state.
"Traditionally when you get further west the single engine air tankers are used because it's much more open country, but as you come east and get in to the hills, around the Grampians, the Otways ... the helicopters are used," said Kestral Aviation managing director Ray Cronin.
Two pilots crew the Black Hawk, with the team also comprising two full-time mechanics and a 30,000 litre fuel truck that can follow the aircraft to fires and provide up to five days of fuel before needing to be refilled.
Aerial contracts for the summer bushfire season began this week, with the two helicopters to be based in Ballarat for 98 days. The contracts can be extended if needed.
With a much-wetter-than-average spring and long grass that has yet to start drying out, the Ballarat region is expecting an "average" fire season according to the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council seasonal outlook.
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"Certainly helicopters are a great tool in the tool kit for emergency service agencies, especially when you look at a lot of the ground which is quite wet, there's long grass that will start to dry out as we get warm days and access for some vehicles in to paddocks might be limited," Mr Cronin said.
Although Ballarat was home to trials of night-time aerial firefighting, which gained Civil Aviation Safety Approval in 2018, Mr Cronin said at this stage there were no plans to use the helicopter to fight fires at night this summer season.
"So far we haven't had any word from Emergency Management Victoria that they are going to look at that. The prediction is to be slightly lower fire activity for this season so I'm not sure if they're going to," he said.
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