The Department of Sustainability and Environment in Victoria has been conducting fuel reduction burns in national parks and state forests across the state, with the aim of reducing the risk of bushfires this summer.
In the state's west, the DSE's Horsham fire district is conducting controlled burns in the Grampians and the Little Desert National Park.
DSE Horsham fire controller Geoff Evans says the district has already surpassed its 2006 target.
"This year we were budgeted to do 7,500 hectares of fuel reduction burning; we've actually achieved 11,000 hectares."
Mark Corr is a DSE fire management officer in Horsham and a navigator on one of the helicopters that's used for controlled burns.
The helicopter drops what look like table tennis balls full of flammable chemicals to burn large areas quickly.
Mr Corr say helicopters are a vital tool in the DSE's fuel reduction strategy.
"Using a helicopter means firefighters aren't having to walk through large areas of forests lighting them up, which is a hazard."
Bruce Taylor is a DSE bombardier. His job is to operate the machine that drops the flammable table tennis balls.
"The balls have chemical crystals inside and we put them in the machine that injects them with glycol."
"This causes a chemical reaction and then a fire in about 30 seconds."
Mr Taylor says operating the machine is relatively straight forward.
"The navigator gives me the signal and we monitor [the machine's] progress to make sure we have consistent dropping."