KEY POINTS:
A New Zealand firefighter who was injured in Australia last year says he had to go against his training in order to survive a fireball in the Victorian bush.
Nelson forestry contractor Nick McCabe received serious burns to his hands and face after he and 10 other New Zealanders were sent to contain a spot fire on Mt Terrible, near Melbourne.
The team was part of a group of 47 New Zealand firefighters who went to the aid of the Australians during December's devastating wild fires.
Mr McCabe told the New Zealand Fire Service magazine the team had spent two hours assessing the Mt Terrible fire and the surrounding area before they entered the fray. There was no gung-ho approach to safety, he said.
"We had our [safety protocols] in place and the beauty of it was we were going uphill, [the safe side of the fire]."
But while the team was putting out a "spill-over" - where flames had jumped back over containment lines, a scout called out from the road that a fire was coming towards them.
With the fireball approaching fast, team members had to go into "the black" - the already burnt-out area - or run for their vehicles.
"Your training says go into the black," Mr McCabe said.
"But the way it stood, if we went into the black it wouldn't have been safe. I've seen it before ... in Australia in 2003; the fire burnt through the same area three times.
"So I made the call to get to the vehicles and run the gauntlet of the fireball."
But the plan didn't go entirely smoothly - some of the firefighters realised as they were fleeing the fireball that they would not be able to outrun it.
Following their training, several team members dived for cover in a ditch, and let the flames and searing gas burn over the top of them.
When they finally got out and reached their vehicles, Mr McCabe was in shock, plagued by fear that men remained trapped in the blaze.
Dousing himself in water, he wondered if the fire might still reach them.
"[But] my big concern was that we didn't get everyone out. That was cutting me up."
His fears weren't realised and all 11 firefighters escaped the flame.
But Mr McCabe and his teammates John Tupara and Barrie Hunt sustained serious burns, and others received minor burns and smoke inhalation.
Victorian authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, which is yet to conclude.
- NZPA
