Parks and Conservation Service (PCS) staff crew eleven command vehicles, six heavy tankers, three medium tankers and seven light units. These units vary in size, crew number requirements, and water holding capacity and have differing strengths operationally. Units are staged at the various depots around the territory. Once standby is required, the units are spread strategically between the north, south and rural parts of the ACT.
PCS Fire Vehicles
Tankers
Parks 14
- Crews 3 staff and holds 4500L of water
Parks 14 displays artwork by Ngunnawal artist Adrian Brown, titled Fire - Wein. The black circle represents the Ngunnawal people and the white lines represent our spirits who take us on our journeys through our pathways through the landscape and guide us on how to manage and burn country. The orange represents Country that has been burnt, the yellow is Country recovering after burning and the white colour represents clean Country where it has been managed through fire.
Parks 17
- Crews 4 staff and holds 3000L of water
Parks 14 displays artwork by Ngunnawal artist Lynnice Church. The artwork depicts the cultural burning practice and its importance to our people in culture and caring for Country. The middle circle depicts the coming together of people to undertake the cultural burning with the fire starting in the middle. It recognises the role of everyone in doing cultural burning practice as a collective approach. The mountain ranges which are predominant in the Ngunnawal landscape show the green and dry parts of Country and the changes in seasons which also helps to guide when and where to burn depending on the landscape, slopes and wind directions. The patterns between the mountain ranges also show the mosaic burning and the colours of fire along with the landscape of trees, which are cleared around to ensure protection before burning. The outer bright circles depict the burn or mosaic patterns found when where different patches burn from the middle out to allow for animals to escape safely. Outside shows the bright green to symbolise areas of unburnt land not needing fire. This artwork recognises the practice, methods and traditional knowledge that has been passed down from many many generations and the importance of ensuring this is valued and embedded alongside western models of fire management. It helps to provide a talking point to understand the practice, its cultural significance and caring for Country responsibilities that we all have as well as the need to find the right balance between them for growth, regeneration and a healthy Country. Kanbi means fire in Ngunnawal.
Light units
- Parks 24 crews 2 staff and holds 600L water
- Parks 25 crews 2 staff and holds 400L water
- Parks 26 crews 2 staff and holds 600L water
- Parks 27 crews 2 staff and holds 600L water
Command vehicles
Command vehicles are operated by rostered PCS Officers. These officers are experienced personnel that attend fires in conjunction with our fire appliances.
Fire vehicles utilised from ACT RFS
Tankers
Parks 10, 11, 12 and 16 crew 5 staff and hold 3000L of water each.
Mediums
Parks 30, 31, and 32 crew 3 staff and hold 1500L of water each.
Light units
Parks 20, 21 and 22 crew 2 staff and hold 600L of water each.
