....ten times the budget, more and better( more expensive) and they still cannot put out a fire. And you have put your finger on the exact problem red_dirt! THE problem is the lack of local knowledge of fire behaviour in the local environment. Local fire captains had the authority to perform hazard reduction when and as required. In Vic, the bush was completely burnt of scrub hazards every five years. There hadn't been any hazard reduction on the surf coast since ash Wednesday in 1983... The bush around Gembrook is exactly the same. The litter is over a metre deep in some valleys up there.
Like a wise old blackfella said this year up in the Kakadu...
...if you don't burn the bush and look after it the lightning will come and take everything!
It doesn't matter how many shiny trucks or big water bombers you have, if you do not burn out the trash you are doomed to watch the bush turn into hell on earth so that NOTHING will stop it!