Glen Innes cheered as two troops of army engineers arrived yesterday, ready to clear up and rebuild after last year's devastating bushfires.

For Queenslander Captain Daniel Teys, who serves with 6 Engineer Support Regiment, it will be a first non-training deployment.

"It's very satisfying to get out the door and actually be helping Australians is quite a nice change for us," he said.

Training is one thing - doing it for real is quite another.

"(Here) you're handing the site over to someone and actually affecting people's lives, which is really positive.

"A few of the guys are actually from around here and have been affected by the fires so they're glad to get down and help out where they can."

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The 104 soldiers from 11 Engineer Regiment, 6 Engineer Support Regiment and 3 Combat Service Support Battalion have already set about reconnoitering Wytaliba and other fire-damaged communities, and farms.

Over 50 homes were lost in Wytaliba and another dozen in Torrington last year as two massive terrifying blazes tore through the small communities, killing two.

Much of both towns remain in ruins.

The defence force plans to install a new temporary Bailey bridge over the Mann river to allow all-weather access to the village for the first time since the blaze hit.

The army brings with it a wide variety of skills, from carpenters and plumbers to electricians, plant operators, logistics and medics.

Their length of stay is still unclear. They have yet to create a construction timeline, which will see them set specialty priority tasks for the skilled soldiers.

But and along with these "niche capabilities" they bring a lot of old fashioned muscle, said Captain Teys.

"There's a bunch of what they call general duty companies out doing like fencing, clearing and the immediate requirements," he said.

The young Captain has been deployed in the past doing training in the Philippines, helping skill them up in his engineering day job.

But there's no place like home for a warm welcome.

"It's nice to be received so warmly by the community," he said.

"We had a couple of people come around and say hi yesterday as we rolled on in."

West Australian soldier Lauren Brown said the experience of helping people was half the reason she joined up.

"It's good to see a result from what you do, it's good to go out and make an effort with something," she said.

"You see the start and the end."

Much of the army is currently based in a camp at Lynch Oval. Other soldiers are staying at the Town Hall - with even Mayor Carol Sparks offering her office as a billet.

Over 5850 ADF personnel are supporting Operation Bushfire Assist across Australia.