24/12/2001 - 16/01/2002 Sydney and much of the Blue Mountains ravaged by wildfire.

"ELVIS" the helicopter on loan from the USA won the hearts of many Australians during the Sydney fires, able to carry a 9,000 litre payload of water.

Also carrying 9,000 litres and sent to NSW, was the Victor Harbor Group Tanker, seen here along side a NSW metropolitan fire truck, both trucks parked outside a NSW bushfire brigade station.

Seen here are both Metropolitan and Country Fire Services firefighters from South Australia during an evening 12 hour crew changeover in the smoke filled Blue Mountains near Lawson. MFS and CFS crews worked well together on the CFS fire appliances driven from SA.

This is a small part of the Country Fire Service contingent sent to NSW to deal with the fires in the Blue Mountains.

Backburning operations were conducted throughout each night to bring the fires within established control lines. These backburns often representing a real risk to those conducting them.

This is one of the combined MFS/CFS strike teams including male and female crew from the Victor Harbor CFS.
( In total 11 crew from Victor Harbor were sent to Sydney to work on various shifts.)

With the job done, SA crews are released from the fireground. Seen here are a number of Victor Harbor crew at the Sydney airport waiting for their flight home (hoping that the plane in this picture is not their flight home).

There in 1994 back in 2002 - Will we be called again across the country to Sydney and the Blue Mountains to fight more wildfires?