NOTE: This Article accompanies a Podcast in which the following comments are put into the context of an overall discussion.

 A New Zealand heavy lift helicopter operator has expressed surprised that Australian authorities have made no provision to use the company’s services in the looming bushfire season.

Heli Harvest Ltd is New Zealand's leading heavy helicopter operator and one of its giant, Russian-built helicopters was extensively used by authorities to help fight the disastrous Victorian bushfires in February this year.

However, Qwilton Biel, the operations manager of Heli Harvest, says the company was recently told by Australian fire agencies have decided not contract in additional aircraft for the coming fire season.

No reason was given but Qwilton says it may be that the agencies were regarding last season’s fires as something out of the usual and, therefore, did not have to make special plans for the 2009-10 fire season.

The 2009 Victorian bushfires Royal Commission’s interim report was recently released.

While a final report is not due to report until next year, the commission recommended that lessons from those fires be taken into account in 2010, including investigating the potential for resources might be applied more rapidly and effectively during extremely dangerous bushfires.

Heli Harvest has been busy helping Turkish authorities fight forest fires during the Northern Hemisphere summer and contacted Australian agencies to plan for the coming Southern Hemisphere fire season.

“I was somewhat surprised to hear back from them that they are not looking to contact any additional base load aircraft into Victoria for the coming season and they are basically going to do it the same as they did it last year.”

He says it is the Australian agencies’ “call” how they approached the coming fire season and, in the meantime, Heli Harvest is busy completing a contract that has taken the company to Turkey, where its crews have been flying helicopters on the country’s pine forests, including some near Gallipoli.  The area around Gallipoli is historically significant, because it is the site where New Zealand and Australian troops landed and fought an ultimately unsuccessful battle in World War One.

For more details, listen to the Podcast below.

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