The Cudgegong Rural Fire Service (RFS) is taking part of a trial of motorbikes in firefighting over the coming weeks.
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Two trail bikes and a fully equipped vehicle trailer were delivered to the Cudgegong District RFS headquarters in Mudgee last week.
The local RFS will work with the Remote Area Firefighting Team (RAFT) to train and test the capabilities of the bikes in firefighting operations.
Trail bikes were used in the recent Hawkesbury fires, mainly for reconnaissance purposes.
Qualified riders carrying extinguishers and chainsaws go ahead of the firefighting vehicles on fire trails to clear fallen trees and extinguish smaller fires.
RAFT members in the Cudgegong District RFS will test prototype foam extinguishers carried in backpacks.
Firefighters using the bikes must be experienced motorbike riders with a current bike licence.
Four bikes will be trialled across the state in the current fire season, with a view to rolling out the bikes across the NSW in future.
RAFT operations officer Simon Topp said 16 riders in total, working in teams of two, would take part in the trial this season, helping to identify how the bikes can be used in different areas.
“Cudgegong area has different fire risks from other areas,” Mr Topp said. “We want to find where they bikes are most effective and how they are best deployed.
“Once we find that, we are on the way to developing the program more permanently.
“In the off season, we will be moving the bikes around for training and familiarisation.”
Cudgegong RFS district officer Peter Fothergill said with the fire risk easing after pre-Christmas rain in the local area, the bikes would be used in fire trail preparation, especially in the Lue and Mount Knowles areas.
Mr Fothergill said although the recent rain had reduced the threat of fire, hotter weather predicted in mid-January is expected to increase the fire risk levels later in the month.