Dog One asked.....
I see in the press that there has beena fire burning in Northern Tasmania for the past week or so, and at various times threatening Beaconsfield and surrounding community's.
Would it not have been feasible in the early stages of this fire to have flown the aircraft down (flight time 40 mins) to put out the fire before it got as a large as it is now. From the press reports, there is a large amount of resources being used juts to contain the fire.
An interstate deployment is a political issue.
The Tasmanians would have to ask for it, and be prepared to pay for it. This wouyld depend very much upon their own predictions for fire behaviour, and their expectations of their ability to control it with the assets at hand.
There is also the question of whether the Vic government would be prepared to see such an assett made unavailable for their own fires. Not politically clever if events show that it was needed at home..... and Fire Danger across a fair slice of SE Australia at the moment is approaching "Extreme".
Secondly, it is rare that aircraft actually put fires out. They are a very useful supporting asset, but they do not replace ground troops for actual extinguishment. Not that this is a reason to not deploy them,just suggesting that you adjust your expectations.
Respectfully.... Peter