Six RFS members from Southern NSW, including two of only 200 winch-qualified remote area firefighters in the state, are back to normality after being deployed to the Tasmanian fires.
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Lavington and Federation members Mark Gentile and Rick Aitken were among the 682 RFS personnel that tackled numerous fires between February and March.
"We went to the western side of Tasmania as part of a strike team of 30, mixed with Parks NSW," Mr Gentile said.
"Half of us went down to the southern side and half to the eastern side of the state.
"Every day we were helicoptered in to put out hot-spots and flare ups.
"It was hard-going - some of the country out there is very remote and hilly."
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The volunteers received remote area training in 2018 and are two of 12 in the area with the qualifications.
It was Mr Aitken's first time putting his training to use when being winched out of a helicopter.
"We're tasked with getting into the remote areas that trucks can't get to," he said.
"We use dry-land firefighting techniques like digging under the dirt."
Mr Aitken said the weather and large amounts of peat were two challenging aspects to the fires.
"Back home it's pretty flat ... you almost had to use your tools to hike up it, if it weren't for the helicopters it would have taken days to get in there," he said.
"We would get maps out of date by a week and you'd still find your way to the hot-spots (in the peat) and they would still be hot enough to get going again in dry conditions.
"The peat will need monitoring."
The 11-week stint was the most prolonged interstate deployment in the history of the NSW RFS.
