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Speaker 1: This time round, we're called to help on a fire,

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Speaker 1: the Wilder Fire, which is one hundred and twenty thousand

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Speaker 1: hectares and quite a big size. But we were called

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Speaker 1: over there the time around to deal with a lot

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Speaker 1: of dangerous trees.

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Speaker 2: When you say dealing with dangerous trees, are you sorting

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Speaker 2: them out before the fire reaches them or felling stuff afterwards?

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Speaker 1: Fulling stuff afterwards the fire has gone through the serie

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Speaker 1: here and they get hollowed out by the fire and

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Speaker 1: they can fall at in a particular time. The type

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Speaker 1: of trees as well, with the blue gums, and that

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Speaker 1: they get quite heat stressed, and just when they start

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Speaker 1: getting heat stress, they just literally drop branches for the

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Speaker 1: reason at all, and it's obviously helped particular the tree itself.

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Speaker 2: Why does that matter if they're in the middle of nowhere.

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Speaker 1: Well, where we were is through a lot of public

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Speaker 1: access tracks and roads. Even though it's through the forestry area,

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Speaker 1: the place is open up to the public, so they're

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Speaker 1: trying to keep this place as safe as possible. Then

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Speaker 1: reopen in the tracking areas.

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Speaker 2: You see that, And it sounds interesting because we have

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Speaker 2: this picture in our heads that a massive wildfire if

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Speaker 2: it were to rip through somewhere, it just incinerates everything.

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Speaker 2: Everything turns to ash. In reality, that's not the case.

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Speaker 1: Not always the case. Depending on the speed of the

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Speaker 1: fire that goes through, and it goes through quite quickly,

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Speaker 1: it's a lot of the finer fuels to get burnt.

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Speaker 1: If it's more slow paced, it gets a little bit

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Speaker 1: heavy timber and met and literally everything gets totally destroyed

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Speaker 1: or all of our crews had advanced tree fellers and

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Speaker 1: their crews. Our crew from Mitch our canabary. Here we

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Speaker 1: get two advanced tree fellers myself and two others and

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Speaker 1: we're just a couple of the crews to go ahead

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Speaker 1: of us to open up the track wide enough to

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Speaker 1: get a vehicle through so we don't get trapped in

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Speaker 1: the end, and then we come behind with our advanced

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Speaker 1: tree fellers and machinery to clear out a good couple

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Speaker 1: of tree withoos or lengths further off the road just

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Speaker 1: to keep that area. So extremely physical work. Yes, yeah,

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Speaker 1: we were dealing with ty is the mid thirties, early forties.

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Speaker 1: Most days the crew before us to went through, there's

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Speaker 1: a heat wave guard through and there in the mid

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Speaker 1: forties every day, so very hot hard work. Like when

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Speaker 1: we arrived we got onto our five tenths to hear

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Speaker 1: about ten thirty at nights, jumped off the air conditioned bus.

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Speaker 1: It was thirty seven degrees at tenth at night.

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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, what do we got onto? What about

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Speaker 2: those fireman suits, those uniforms you're wearing, do they help

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Speaker 2: keep you cool?

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Speaker 1: No, not at all, because of your body's going to

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Speaker 1: be totally covered in to toe. Basically in our predictive here,

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Speaker 1: it does get extremely hot for those sort of conditions.

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Speaker 1: Taking your foot off the game and start taking away

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Speaker 1: as of clothing off, you're still going to have your

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Speaker 1: quick gear on.

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Speaker 2: Oh geez, that's extra punishing. I thought it might have

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Speaker 2: had some sort of cooling layer or something worse.

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Speaker 1: Possibility of extra flare ups and means, and our crews

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Speaker 1: get got onto initial attach as well, so we could

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Speaker 1: get the call off the time to physically go and

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Speaker 1: take our new start. So we've got to have all

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Speaker 1: the gear on us all the time.

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Speaker 2: You're dealing with areas where the wildfires already ripped through.

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Speaker 2: Is there a risk of something sparking up again while

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Speaker 2: you're in there?

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Speaker 1: Oh, definitely is. Yes, there's still a lot of hot

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Speaker 1: spots around in the areas, but also round the primeter itself,

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Speaker 1: even though it's been contained. That's sort of hot weather.

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Speaker 1: A bit of wind we get to flare up near

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Speaker 1: views and it can jump those containment lined quodias, and

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Speaker 1: so we've got to be on board all the time.

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Speaker 2: It must be pretty dirty work.

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Speaker 1: Oh yes, you're working on the dust and the ash

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Speaker 1: and you get black is. But you know, it's really enjoyable,

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Speaker 1: rewarding sort of work.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, was there one particular moment that made you stop

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Speaker 2: and think, this is why I do this.

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Speaker 1: Pretty much all the time. It's just when you start

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Speaker 1: meeting members of the community that d and the gratitude

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Speaker 1: that they get from just haaving us the years is

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Speaker 1: really quite rewarded. Mitt alone.

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Speaker 2: Talk us through the average day, the average day, but

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Speaker 2: we get up early, having breakfast, better briefings, get assign our.

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Speaker 1: Tasks, and then we're straight out on the fire line.

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Speaker 1: So it's just just really really long hot days.

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Speaker 2: How long are we talking these days?

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Speaker 1: Can then I think from twelve to fourteen hour days.

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Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, I don't think I've ever worked that hard.

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Speaker 2: I've been lone on a volunteer basis.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well Australia is not too bad. We get a

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Speaker 1: rotation of five to two and five, so you work

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Speaker 1: five days, two days off work a no five days,

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Speaker 1: and then you've got your travel in between. As where

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Speaker 1: North America likes of Canada and so forth, it's fourteen

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Speaker 1: to two or so, working fourteen days straight and two

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Speaker 1: days off.

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Speaker 2: So I understand you were part of a contingent to

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Speaker 2: what twenty two New Zealanders, Yes, among among what.

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Speaker 1: Oh two hundreds At our particular camp, we'd got one

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Speaker 1: hundred and twenty people just in our camp alone.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 1: Won't at any one time, but during the peak of

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Speaker 1: the of the fire itself there could be more than

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Speaker 1: it as well.

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Speaker 2: And that these guys and girls coming from all corners

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Speaker 2: of the state, they just drop tools and move into

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Speaker 2: this move into this pop up camp for you know

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Speaker 2: what is it weeks on end.

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Speaker 1: Yes, they're verma all over the States. And then it

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Speaker 1: gets bad enough they'll start interstate all over Australian they'll

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Speaker 1: common own help.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 1: And then it gets to the stage where the needs

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Speaker 1: international help as well. So and this when we go

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Speaker 1: over and start relieving some of their crews and they is.

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Speaker 2: The Aussie set up much different to how we work

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Speaker 2: here in New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: Very so much to what we do here, except that's

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Speaker 1: more than the largest scowl like on all of those

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Speaker 1: large fires to get the big eats, the big siger

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Speaker 1: bowl sort of things, and the larger aircraft. They're dumping

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Speaker 1: things all over the place.

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Speaker 2: You didn't get caught out by any of the slang.

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Speaker 2: No a hose as a hose, it's just negli. If

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Speaker 2: you're getting a bit cold at night, it's not that

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Speaker 2: it sounds like it was an issue, but if there

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Speaker 2: was one particularly cool night, Hey, can I have an

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Speaker 2: extra blanket please?

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Speaker 3: Oh sorry, I mean an.

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Speaker 1: All over the Usually in the big five kents they

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Speaker 1: put you up in tinsa means, but this time around,

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Speaker 1: well we've done another time as well. As the tints

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Speaker 1: are inside large marquis, and those marquees.

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Speaker 3: Are reconditioned, ah no way.

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Speaker 1: And they're all blacked out on the inside. So those

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Speaker 1: that maybe don't like cruise or whatever, really the day

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Speaker 1: and the heat of the day. Oh and like I said,

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Speaker 1: when we arrived at tenth night and it's still thirty

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Speaker 1: seven degrees and you still sleep in the conditioned.

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Speaker 3: It's a little bit of comfort, a bit of comforts.

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Speaker 1: More so you can be risted, not fatigue starting the day.

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Speaker 3: Mattresses are right and everything.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, they put you on cots.

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Speaker 3: They put you in carts.

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Speaker 1: Like you stretch your bed, sort of thing they call cops.

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Speaker 2: Ah, okay, I'm at the stage in life where the

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Speaker 2: cots on dealing with a very different.

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Speaker 3: Do they run the white noise machine for you too?

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Speaker 1: No, you plan there's a lot of snoring.

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Speaker 2: I've always found with snoring, it doesn't matter so long

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Speaker 2: as you're the first one to get to sleep.

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Speaker 3: As long as you're Yeah, that's right.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure the Aussies are very thankful for the help.

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Speaker 2: Did you feel that Were they appreciative?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, very appreciative for sure. Some very good comments come

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Speaker 1: from from all over. They enjoyed the cues going over here.

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Speaker 1: They work tickers, nice, strong.

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Speaker 2: Work, and thank you for sharing the experience with us.

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Speaker 2: It's nice to have you back, Tim Clark, Thanks very much.

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Speaker 1: Slake