DSE Home > Fire and Other Emergencies > Bushfire History > Photo Gallery

Alpine National Park Fire 1998 - Photographs

Back to bushfire photo gallery

These photos may be reproduced with acknowledgment of DSE as the source.

Click on an image below for a high resolution version.



Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Licola Incident Management Centre for Caledonia fire.
Photo: Alpine+ NP Fire
Erickson aircrane filling its 9000 litre tank from Lake Tarli Karng.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Licola Base Camp.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Erickson S64 Aircrane at Licola Helibase.

Photo:Alpine NP Fire
Bell 205, Navy Sea King and Erickson Aircrane at Licola Helibase.
Photo:Alpine NP Fire
Dromader fixed wing firebomber loading with fire retardant at Snowy Range airstrip.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Bell 205 medium helicopter "hot" refuelling at Snowy Range Airstrip.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Two Dromader fixed wing firebombers waiting to be loaded at Snowy Range airstrip.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
A special foam is added to water for firefighting. Foam sticks to trees and prevents the spread of fire across the control lines or mineral earth tracks.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Teamwork: a firefighting crew work together to move a tree which has fallen across the fire control line. Logs need to be removed off access tracks as they block firefighters access and can increase the fire hazard.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Firefighters clear a mineral earth control line ahead of the fire. This involves removing one metre of vegetation to bare earth using specialized hand tools called rakehoes ahead of the fire front.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Burning bark and embers carried ahead of the main fire by the wind creates spot fires in inaccessible areas, sometimes to distances several kilometres away.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Where flame heights are low, firefighters can establish mineral earth control lines close to the fire to contain its spread.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Mixing retardant: over twenty tonnes of fire retardant have been used each day by firebombers at the Alpine fire. Retardant is mixed with water and is designed to retard vegetation combustions.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
A bare earth control line has contained the spread of fire. By reducing the vegetation ahead of the fire, when the fire reaches the control line it slows down as there is nothing to keep it burning.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
A backing fire: flames are less intense when burning down the slope or into the wind.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Thick bush, steep slopes and rugged countryside make firefighting difficult to control in the Alpine fire.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
After a fire has passed through an area, it is common for trees to fall as their bases are burnt. Fallen trees present a constant hazard to firefighters and the public. Logs need to be removed off access tracks as they block firefighters access and can increase the hazard.

Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Mopping up: once a fire has been declared "under control" there is ongoing work such as extinguishing smouldering logs, breaking up stumps and ongoing extinguishing of smouldering material before it is declared "safe". This may take several weeks.
Photo: Alpine NP Fire
Safety in numbers: firefighters work in teams of four or more to establish control lines. These are mineral earth tracks used to limit the spread of fire.


printer friendly version