The Coulson S61 aircrane will be flown by Canadian firefighters including Mike Bridson and John Thorsteinsson, who have almost 60 years of experience between them.

The multi use air crane, which can seat 17 people, has most recently been utilised in the firefighting effort in Orange County, California.

In conjunction with a smaller S76 model, deployed for air supervision around Ballarat, the two are among a record statewide fleet of 50 aircraft - comprised of water bombing, air supervision and intelligence gathering aircraft - to be used in the Victorian firefighting effort this season.

The two men worked their first shift together on Wednesday and while neither have been to Victoria before, they have both worked in Australia.

Mr Bridson worked in New South Wales in the 2009-10 fire season and Mr Thorsteinsson has worked in Darwin.

Both men travel the world in order to assist different firefighting efforts. Mr Bridson said each country was different, with differing fuel types and terrain.

"In firefighting there are a lot of common tactics that we use but every fuel type and terrain type are different and require different tactics," he said.

In Victoria, he said the concern was grass or scrub fires.

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CFA Commander Wayne Rigg said it was fantastic to have the two aircraft at Ballarat to assist during the fire season.

The two aircraft are used for different purposes. The role of the larger air crane, with a 4000 litre tank that can be filled in 40 seconds, is to assist ground crews by dropping water on fires while the role of the smaller aircraft is provide a vantage point for crews - with an air attack supervisor from a fire agency travelling on board - to survey a fire from the air.

Commander Rigg said the aircraft's role was to assist ground crews by giving them an edge, while they are also used to transport crews to remote areas where a fire is burning.

As soon as ground crews are alerted to a fire, the fire bombing aircraft are also launched if the trigger is met - meaning the fire danger index is 12 or above - in about 10 minutes.

"It's all about the rapid initial attack and keeping fires small. And that's when aircraft are the most useful," he said.

While the aircraft stationed in Ballarat will respond to fires within a 30 minute flight time, there are other aircraft strategically placed around the state with others as close as Stawell and Bendigo.

Commander Rigg said agencies were prepared in terms of both ground and air crews but there was a joint responsibility for the community to be prepared with a fire plan and to keep up to date with any information pertaining to the fire season.

The S76 aircraft is still at Avalon airport, having recently been used in Bolivia, but is set to arrive later this week. It is used for the night vision program.

The aircraft will be in Ballarat throughout the summer, but their time in the region can be extended as required.

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