Bushfire fighters win praise after exhausting week

Saturday, 14 February 2009
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The efforts of firefighters battling bushfires that continue to burn across the Australian state of Victoria have been praised by the Country Fire Authority's (CFA) chief fire officer.
The CFA is the state authority controlling fire fighting the on private sector land in rural areas, along with the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) which covers government resources.
The ABC has reported today (14 February 2009) that the death toll from the fires remains at 181 but is expected to total more than 200, and firefighters have contained 12 of the 25 blazes still active.
The CFA chief fire officer Russell Rees told the ABC it has been an exhausting week for the men and women fighting those fires.
"Some of them feel like they failed here and we've got to say they did everything possible," he said.
"Whether they're volunteer [or] career firies (firefighters), DSE, police - everyone they worked their guts out on Saturday and we need to carry ourselves forward into the future.
"We're not finished yet. We're not going to give up and it's really important that we keep going."
No blazes are currently threatening towns, but Ewan Waller of the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) says containing the fire at Healesville is a priority.