8/28/2015 Grizzly Bear Complex News Release

Grizzly Bear

Complex Fire

Special Release
Friday, August 28, 2015

Australian tactical fire team to fill scarce overhead positions critically needed at Grizzly Bear Complex Fire

     Elgin, Ore. – Six members of an all-risk Country Fire Authority Team from the state of Victoria in Australia will be filling tactical overhead positions at the Grizzly Bear Complex Fire for the next week. Two additional team members will arrive today to fill air support roles at heliports near the fire. The Team arrived in the United States last Saturday in response to a national scarcity of overhead positions for the many fires burning throughout the Western United States.

After this morning’s radio briefing for fire personnel located at five camps surrounding the Complex, three of the team members took an opportunity to talk with incident information officers about their new roles.

Craig Brownlie from Melbourne, Australia will work as a safety officer for Branch 2, the southernmost branch of the fire.  He will be supervised by Ray Hershey, safety officer for the Washington Interagency Incident Management Team #4, to provide safety oversight for line personnel in the Branch. He will be stationed at the base camp at Troy, Ore.

Two other team members, Russ Cutlock, Victoria, Australia, and Ian Cross, Melbourne, will be division supervisors in Branches 3 and 2, under the direction of branch directors.

According to Craig Brownlie, the group is prepared to do whatever is needed by the incident management team and they are excited to be participating in wildfire management in the United States. “We will be learning new strategic planning processes and tactical approaches to fighting fire on this landscape,” Brownlie said.  “We will be bringing the knowledge we gain and new methods we learn back to Australia.  This exchange of technology and information is important to both countries as we also host firefighters from the U.S. in Australia,” he said.

Before arriving at the Complex, the team was briefed in Boise, Idaho.  They are part of a 71-member contingent of experts from Australia and New Zealand that includes specialists such as heavy machinery operators, task force leaders, supervisors, airbase managers, safety officers and strike team leaders, said Craig Lapsley, emergency management commissioner for the Australian state of Victoria.

The deployment allows the team to support other countries that need support.  They have also been deployed to Canada this year.  The crews are very experienced in dealing with large wildfires having handled fires on similar terrain across Australia.