Whanganui volunteer firefighter part of Fire & Emergency NZ deployment to Queensland wildfires

Whanganui firefighter Aaron Hartley is being dispatched to Queensland to battle the state's wildfires.

Whanganui volunteer firefighter Aaron Hartley is being dispatched to Queensland to fight the ongoing wildfires in the state.

Hartley, a rural fire officer with the Whanganui Volunteer Fire Brigade, is part of the second deployment from Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) to assist with the fires currently blazing through the state.

The Bravo Deployment consists of 22 personnel, four five-person crews and two strike team leaders.

Hartley said he and the rest of the Fenz squad’s objective for the deployment was to assist Queensland Fire & Emergency Services.

“It means helping assist them as frontline firefighters, also it lets them have their local crews have a break,” Hartley said.

“We’re expecting hot, dry, arid air [with] steep terrain-type conditions.”

The fires re the result of a very dry spring and have destroyed more than 50 homes so far.

Since Fenz was first deployed to Queensland, the number of fires in the area has reduced from 70 to 45 active bushfires as of Tuesday.

Hartley said he hoped to assist the local crews as much as they could and continue to bring down the number of fires in the state.

In July this year, he was also part of a Fenz contingent to Canada to battle blazes in what was the worst wildfire season on record for the country.

He said he was going on another deployment because of his passion for firefighting.

“I love this, I’m real passionate about this.

“Also it is good to have different experiences to bring that to the Whanganui brigade,” Hartley said.

He and the rest of the Fenz Bravo deployment will leave for Queensland on Wednesday evening.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.