Historical information

The origins of the humble handheld driptorch have been lost in time.

They are widely used for ignition in controlled burning operations in forest and grasslands.

The “Pacific Forester“ with its short central wand and somewhat leaky ball-valve was made by the American Wajax company in the 1940s.

The Pacific Forester is slightly different in design from the more robust and common “Panama” driptorch first manufactured in 1933 and used extensively by Queensland cane farmers.

The Panama is closely related to the current “Firebug” used in Victoria which is manufactured by Rodney Industries in Brisbane and has an offset wand design which gives it good balance.

The fuel is a mixture of petrol and diesel and every FCV District had their own closely-guarded secret formula ... 2:1, 3:1, 1:1, 4:1 or 3:2 ratio.

There was also the choice of 91, 95 or 98 octane petrol mixed with summer or winter diesel. Occasionally some of the old Avgas or Jet-A1 lying around the depot was added with a splash of engine oil to make the mixture stick to the fuel to be ignited.

The fuel mixed also varied between autumn or spring, heathland, mixed forest, or high-intensity slash burns

Physical description

Kerosene drip torch
Long straight wand with control valve

Inscriptions & markings

Bell Backburner