Rappel Crew

With much of Victoria’s public land being difficult to access, DEECA uses highly trained firefighters to rappel down ropes (similar to abseiling) from a hovering helicopter to gain access to remote, inaccessible bushfires.

Once crews have rappelled to the ground, specialised firefighting equipment is lowered from the helicopter to the ground. The helicopter may assist crews by fire-bombing with water or foam.

Once suppression of the fire is complete, the rappel crew must walk to a pick up site with their equipment.

Our rappel crews are based at our Heyfield and Ovens workcentres. If you have a good level of fitness, sound decision-making skills and are looking for a unique challenge, we’d love to hear from you!

In addition to our standard requirements (specified on the Project Firefighter position tab), you’ll need the following to join a rappel crew:

• Maintain a maximum body weight of 95kg in overalls and boots
• Have at least one year's experience as an accredited Forest Fire Management Victoria General Firefighter or equivalent Wild Land Firefighter experience
• Be comfortable working at heights and from helicopters
• Be comfortable working and camping in extremely remote places
• Be prepared to be deployed across Victoria for extended periods of time
• Be able to implicitly follow verbal and written instructions and hand signals
• Successfully complete initial specialist rappel training and ongoing training throughout the season.

For further information about these positions and locations, please refer to the attachments below.

• Rappel Crew Position Description
• Rappel Crew Work Centre Locations Map

Applications for the 2024-2025 season have now closed.