Fires that started in the Budj Bim National Park in December posed an extra challenge for firefighters who needed to contain the blaze while protecting important indigenous heritage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Gunditjmara Aboriginal people have one of the world's oldest aquaculture systems, at 6600 years old, which is heritage-listed with UNESCO.
Evidence from Denis Rose of the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owner Corporation was played on Wednesday at the National Natural Disaster Arrangements Royal Commission.
He acted as a cultural heritage advisor for the CFA and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning during the firefight and praised the cooperation between authorities and traditional owners.
"We have a lot of trust and confidence in each other that we can sometimes make the hard decisions," he said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
One of those decision was to not use a heavy bulldozer to create a containment line, like firefighters would normally do when working on an out-of-control fire.
"We don't want and we don't encourage any earthmoving machinery," Mr Rose said.
"We wouldn't want a bulldozer to accidentally knock over a 6600-year-old fish trap.
"DELWP and the CFA, they should be congratulated, came up with an alternative method that actually demonstrated you can use other tactics for fire suppression."
Water-bombing aircraft were brought in to support CFA crews on the ground.
"I know that they were under pressure with fire across the state and interstate ... The good news is the fireline held," Mr Rose said.
"Thank goodness it worked."
The first fire that started on December 20 burnt 800 hectares of land, then a second fire on December 30 burnt about 4600 hectares, but there were fortunately not many assets lost.
Mr Rose said he could see the smoke coming up from the pine trees as they burned.
"It's reinforced that we all have a valuable role to play in looking after country and improving country and we look forward to even better cooperation and consideration into the future," he said.
