Image: Wayne Rigg
A team of five CFA volunteers spent 188 consecutive days behind the scenes helping firefighting aircraft operate safely across western Victoria during the recent fire season.
Between 1 October 2025 and 7 April 2026, the Flight Followers team in CFA's District 15 Headquarters Brigade contributed more than 1,500 hours supporting aircraft operations across the Grampians and Barwon South West regions.
The team provided Pilots, Air Attack Supervisors and Air Observers with real-time support in western Victorian airspace across incidents and airbases, including Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat, Stawell, Horsham, Nhill, Hamilton, Casterton, Colac and Lethbridge.
District 15 Headquarters Brigade Flight Follower Geoff Bartlett, who has been in the role for six of his 25 years with CFA, said Flight Followers were a critical part of the state's aviation response.
"Without a flight follower, aircraft can't fly, it's a requirement that they have one," Geoff said.
"Flight following is a dedicated person staying in touch with aircraft while they're in the air, either going to, returning from, or over an incident. We check in every 30 minutes they're airborne, just to make sure everything's okay.
"We had one of our five volunteers on duty every day from October through to early April."
The role can involve monitoring multiple aircraft simultaneously, sometimes across several incidents.
"We can look after up to nine airbases, and on busy days most of them have operational aircraft ready to respond as soon as an incident is reported. It does get interesting when you've got aircraft from a number of bases up and need to stay in contact with all of them every half hour," Geoff said.
On days of high alert, standard shifts increase from eight to 10 hours and can extend to 12 or more depending on incident activity.
"On Total Fire Ban days, we can start from first light and often stay until the last aircraft is on the ground," Geoff said.
"It is a very rewarding role, the appreciation we get from pilots and air crews is great. It allows them to concentrate on the work they're doing and their work is quite tremendous.
"A lot of the people involved in keeping aircraft in the air are volunteers, and that's a huge benefit to CFA and to operations.
"People see the aircraft overhead, but they're not aware of what goes on behind that to keep them in the air."
Formed in 2004, the District 15 Headquarters brigade provides a broad range of administrative, logistical, planning and operational support services at locations within the district and beyond.
Geoff said the Brigade is always looking for more active and available volunteers going forward.
"If you're interested in becoming a member of the Brigade, you can start by completing an Expression of Interest at www.cfa.vic.gov.au/volunteers-careers."
