By Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers AFSM
NSW Rural Fire Service
On 9 February 2009, Australia witnessed one of its most devastating natural disasters with the tragic loss of 173 lives and more than 2,000 homes destroyed and damaged during what has become known as the Black Saturday bush fires.
The unprecedented weather conditions and fire behavior also resulted in the mass destruction of community infrastructure including shops, schools, police stations, and water and power utilities.
An estimated 1,060,000 acres of natural environment was razed to the ground, two entire townships were obliterated and approximately 6,200 miles of fencing destroyed.
Toward the end of January 2009, the southern state of Victoria was in the grip of some of the worst weather conditions ever experienced, with the most severe and protracted heatwave in South East Australia’s recorded history.
Forecast weather conditions for Saturday February 7 predicted temperatures in the low 100s F, accompanied by aggressive winds reaching “storm force” (55 – 63 miles per hour). The metropolitan city of Melbourne experienced 109.4 F for three relentless days, the first time since records began.
Hundreds of fires raged
On Black Saturday, literally hundreds of bush fires were raging across Victoria; 15 of these were categorized as significant fires. These fires, and the impact they had on Victoria, changed the landscape of Australia and its fire-fighting agencies forever.
No one can imagine the terror and panic experienced by affected communities and the firefighters on the ground that day. It was truly awe inspiring to see everyday folk on the television risking their lives to help others under horrific circumstances.
The commitment of the many thousands of firefighters across Australia, of which the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) deployed nearly 4000 volunteer members, was incredible.
These fires were a stark reminder of how destructive bush fires can be and the ensuing Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission had implications for fire agencies across Australia.
In an effort to identify strategies to better help communities at risk of bush fire, NSW contributed to the development of a national framework. Key elements of this framework were examined including communication, emergency management, fire danger indices/ratings and public warnings to look at how we, as emergency service agencies, can minimize the devastation of loss of life and property as a result of bush fire.
The view of all states and territories was that whilst the fires only occurred in one state, the magnitude of the devastation and the loss of human life meant the Royal Commission findings were vitally important nationwide.
The findings of the Royal Commission identified areas where tragedy may have been averted and as such a comprehensive list of recommendations was handed down.
The NSW RFS had many of these recommendations already in place, such as a coordinated incident management system that ensures that when major fires occur, all agencies work under the direction of the NSW RFS Commissioner. However, there were still areas where NSW, like its neighboring states, could learn valuable lessons from Black Saturday.
Some of these lessons included:
- Simplifying language and not using agency jargon
- The need for greater public awareness before major fire events and community liaison during these events
- Communities needing a broader understanding of potential fire and associated risk
- More detailed fire danger rating information and clear concise messaging
- Taking a comprehensive approach to community shelter options
- Identifying vulnerable communities and having measures in place to provide necessary assistance and protection.
Following the 2009 fires, a number of broad ranging initiatives were developed. “Prepare. Act. Survive.” was a nationally developed framework for a public awareness campaign designed to educate communities on how to prepare for the threat of bush fires and what action to take if impacted.
The NSW RFS also produced a comprehensive “Bush Fire Survival Plan,” a document which guides people through the process of preparing for and surviving a bush fire.
Also included as a part of these changes was the revision of the existing Fire Danger Rating (FDR) system to reflect the magnitude of threat, particularly on days such as Black Saturday when prevailing conditions are at their worst.
An additional level of “Catastrophic” was introduced to advise the community when the risk is at its highest. Nationally, each level of the scale has a comprehensive warning message attached to it, which advises the public of the expected conditions, potential effect and the preferred course of action they should take.
In addition to this, the “Emergency Alert” telephone warning system was developed. This system can deliver a warning message via cell phone or landline telephone to areas identified as under threat of impact from bush fires or other natural disaster.
This new initiative has since been used on two occasions by the NSW RFS where communities were “at risk” from bush fire.
“Neighbourhood Safer Places” was another initiative developed following the Royal Commission. These are locations that have been identified as potentially providing a higher level of protection during life threatening bush fires.
They are by no means a guaranteed safe haven during bush fires, but they should give people an option if all else fails. NSW has almost 800 registered Neighbourhood Safer Places across the State.
Vulnerable victims
It was determined by the Royal Commission that 44 percent of those people killed on Black Saturday were classed as “vulnerable” — aged less than 12 years old or more than 70 years old, or because they were suffering from acute or chronic illness or disability.
With these statistics in mind, the NSW RFS have developed Community Protection Plans to identify vulnerable community members. These plans also assist fire services to determine what measures are to be taken in order to mitigate risk to vulnerable and general communities.
Australia has always encouraged residents, particularly those living in bush fire prone areas, not to be solely dependent upon fire services and to exercise a measure of self-reliance, including taking responsibility for preparing their homes.
This evolved into the policy of “prepare, stay and defend, or leave early,” which was shortened to “stay or go.” This encouraged residents whose properties were properly prepared and defendable, and who were physically capable, to stay and defend their property in times of fire.
After the Black Saturday fires, this policy came under criticism as 113 of the people who died in these fires were in or around their homes.
Following exhaustive debate on this issue, it was determined that the policy was still sound. However, there was a point at which it was no longer considered safe for residents to remain with their property.
This change in policy now means that if conditions are similar to those on February 7, residents are now advised to leave their property well ahead of the predicted impact of the fire.
Just as Australia has learned from the events of Black Saturday, it is also incumbent on fire services all over the world to learn from these events.
For the international firefighting community, the experience of Black Saturday and subsequent recommendations from the Victorian Royal Commission Report are thought provoking, at the very least.
Ultimately, we all have a responsibility to look after our communities for now and for future generations.