VR training for Australian volunteer firefighters

Canberra: Australian volunteer firefighters will undergo a state-of-the-art virtual reality training to help them grow accustomed to a range of different emergency scenarios, officials announced on Monday.

Victoria state's Country Fire Authority (CFA) will roll out the training to 30,000 of its volunteers, who played a crucial role in the devastating 2019-20 Black Summer bushfire season disaster response, reports Xinhua news agency. The scale and devastation of Australia's 2019-20 bushfires garnered global attention, causing the loss of five lives and more than 300 homes in Victoria.

The fires also burned more than 1.5 million hectares of critical wildlife habitat. The launch of the state-wide virtual firefighter training program today represents an exciting development in the evolution of firefighting training in Victoria, said Minister for Police and Emergency Services Lisa Neville.