The sense in spending $18 million on leasing a 15,000 litre Air Tanker to fight bushfires in Queensland has been questioned when many rural brigades remain without a fire truck to operate with.
The state government last week announced it was putting more than $15 million plus $3.1 million into ongoing costs to bolster fire-fighting capabilities with a Queensland-based Large Air Tanker.
Rural Fire Brigades Association Queensland general manager Justin Choveaux said the giant aerial water bombers were a response tool and were no help with reducing fuel loads.
“It doesn’t do any hazard reduction burning. Everyone has now come to the realisation that you can make fires less bad by reducing the fuel load,” he said.
Read more on this story at the North Queensland Register
