Bravo strike team arrives home from Queensland fires
29 November 2023
Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s Bravo strike team has arrived home after assisting with the response to wildfires burning across Queensland.
Due to recent rainfall and a significant drop in the number of wildfires across the state, Bravo will be Fire and Emergency’s last deployment to Queensland in the foreseeable future.
Two deployments made up of a total of 53 personnel from Fire and Emergency, the Department of Conservation and forestry industries have been sent at the request of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) in the last month.
This was off the back of large wildfires which broke out in the Australian state at the end of September.
While in Queensland Fire and Emergency crews carried out firefighting work including extinguishing fires, creating containment lines with hand tools and patrolling fires to ensure they stay within containment lines.
They also carried out community work across the state, visiting schools to share fire safety messaging and helping to demobilise resources from Victoria back to Brisbane.
Fire and Emergency’s Deputy National Commander Steph Rotarangi says people in both the Alpha and Bravo contingents have worked hard and received valuable experience.
"Our crews worked long hours in arduous conditions to lend a helping hand to our Australian neighbours and we really value that effort," she says.
"I would also like to thank our people’s families and friends for keeping things going back home while their loved ones were overseas."
Fire and Emergency and the organisations it replaced have been deploying personnel internationally to wildfire emergencies for over 20 years.
"These deployments are beneficial to our people," Steph Rotarangi says.
"They bring home valuable experience and skills in dealing with large scale and complex wildfires, which is timely as we head into the peak of our wildfire season here at home."