Just before 6.00pm on Sunday, the brigade was called to assist in the search and rescue of the eight riders from Ballarat, Melton and surrounds who were lost near Wye River.
Brigade Captain Roy Moriarty said Apollo Bay police and Wye River CFA managed to find two of the riders on Sunday night thanks to one man in the group who found emergency services while on a walk to look for mobile phone reception.
“He was able to point us in the direction to where the group was, however, five of the riders had left to see if they could get their bikes out, which is where they got lost in a steep ravine” Roy said.
“By this stage it was too dark and dangerous for us to search around the river.”
Later, an Incident Control Centre was set up at the Wye River Fire Station so that police and other support agencies could coordinate the search and rescue.
“We were able to assist in the way of local knowledge, which meant we could pin point certain areas of interest on a map which was helpful,” Roy said.
“But luckily yesterday morning the men were spotted by the police helicopter on the banks of the river.”
Roy said that while his brigade has been called to a number of these types of incidents, he was concerned in this case that the trail bike riders had to spend a night out in the area.
“It was probably lucky that they did have all of their gear on to keep them warm, and also that it wasn’t two nights given the weather conditions,” he said.
“But it was a good result in the end and great that the police were able to rescue the men uninjured.”
Read more about the trail bike rescue in the Ballarat Courier and Geelong Advertiser.
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