New Zealand firefighters helping to battle bush fires in Victoria are unable to leave their base because of the "extreme'' fire danger.
More than 40 New Zealand firefighters are in Australia, but New Zealand Rural Fire Authority liaison officer Russell Barclay told Radio NZ from Melbourne that the crews had been confined to their base.
"Because of the way the fires are at the moment the guys are all in the base camp because the Australians aren't prepared to put them out on the fire line, or any of their firefighters, just with the conditions at the moment,'' he said.
"With the winds coming through at the moment, they're blowing all over the place, so there's fairly extreme fire danger going on.''
