| Editor’s note: In this exclusive article, FireRescue1 member Peter Weatherstone, learning and development officer at the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, gives his perspective on Australia’s worst-ever wildfires and details how the country is trying to recover. |
By Peter Weatherstone
NSW, Australia, Rural Fire Service
These fires surpass any disaster this nation has ever faced. The closest thing I can liken it to in terms of impact on me personally is 9/11, which like most of Australia I also watched in horror. As the extent of the wildfires became apparent, I was working as part of an incident management team on a 2,000 hectare fire near the south coast of NSW and just north of the Victorian border.
We managed to plan for and see through the extreme fire weather that brought destruction to Victoria without any major losses resulting from the fire we were battling at the time. While we did encounter the high temperatures and low humidity, the high NW winds which were forecast for our area did not eventuate and we escaped without any major fire runs.
This event has seen a phenomenal contribution from the people of Australia in terms of donations. Currently some $51million in cash donations has been provided as well as a massive amount of resources in terms of donated food and clothing.
Generous donations
I live in Canberra, our nation’s capital with some 300,000 residents, and within three days of the fires, one local radio station had collected 14 shipping containers worth of donated clothes and food. In contrast, vast areas of the north of our country are currently enduring the worst floods in 30 years. As I write this, it’s being reported that many of those whose homes are underwater have donated their flood relief payments to those who have lost everything due to fires in the south. It is this mateship and generosity that make us all proud to be Australian.
The resource commitment to these fires remains huge. There are a large number of resources from inside and outside Victoria and a range of agencies committed to these fires with staff and volunteers from my zone having flown out for Victoria this afternoon.
Current weather conditions, cooler temperatures and some rain have assisted operations but concerns remain with higher temperatures forecast for this weekend and into next week.
Even at our local level, hundreds of kilometers from the disaster, there has been an increase in community inquiries regarding bushfire preparedness such is the impact this has had on the nation.
Already some questions have been raised about preparedness levels and accepted “stay and defend or go early” policies. The Victorian Premier has indicated no stone will be left unturned in investigating these fires and the impact they have had.
Arson suspected
These fires will be felt for years due to the horrific loss of human life, the destruction of whole towns and the effects on individuals, communities and the nation. More so as police believe several of these fires are the result of arson. It has been an extremely dark week for Australia and it is difficult to find anyone who doesn’t have some form of link to someone in these areas who have lost property, friends or family.
The primary discussion point on a Canberra radio station this morning was how to help children deal with what they are seeing on TV and hearing at school in terms of this tragedy, showing how widespread the effects of these events are.
Distance will not provide a buffer to the average Australian from this tragedy. The Victorian premier and our prime minister have been unable to hide their emotions during television interviews and this is indicative of our nation’s pain.
Despite this we are buoyed by the Aussie spirit of resilience as shown to the world by our diggers through armed conflict and which exists in every aspect of our endeavours. There are remarkable stories of survival and resilience which help to temper the hurt. Support from other nations is much appreciated including words of condolence offered by President Obama. Australia will recover from this tragedy, but for many individuals the scars will never heal.
Peter Weatherstone is an inspector with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, a primarily volunteer department with about 70,000 volunteer firefighters and 650 paid staff. It is northern neighbors to the state of Victoria, where the fire disaster has been centered.