Refuelling at Gisborne

 Helitacks refuel at Dixon Field, Gisborne, on Monday night. Photo: Chris Fleming

Waterbombing helicopters refuelled at Gisborne on Monday evening - an event not seen in town for about 15 years.

A crowd of about 50 people watched on at Dixon Field as 10-12 helitacks came and went, some twice, between 5pm and 8.30pm.

The helicopters were refuelling at the site to attend to the Epping and Donnybrook fires.

"They would work and then come back for rapid refuelling, which is when the engine is still running, then they were sent away to work again," Gisborne CFA captain, Sam Strang explained. 

The Department of Sustainability and Environment coordinated the refuelling as the responsible body for the State Aircraft Unit Victoria.

Two aviation fuel trucks provided the fuel.

A Gisborne CFA unit was on site to provide "fire coverage" during hot refuelling which poses a fire risk.

Gisborne SES also attended.

"It was rather exciting. It was very interesting, and it was good that we could help out in some way," Capt. Strang said.

Six helitacks stayed overnight with a view to deploying again on Tuesday. Unfortunately most were struck on site for a further one to two days due to cloud cover and unclear visibility.

Capt. Strang said it was very unusual to host a helitack refuelling operation at Gisborne. 

He recalls the last one occurring during a fire at the Macedon pine plantation in the 1990s.