CFA Connect Blogosphere

Today marks the third anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires. For so many people, including CFA members, their families, their friends, their neighbours and their workmates, this will be a special and sensitive day.

As the third anniversary of 7 February draws near, we remember and honour the 173 people who lost their lives in our state's most significant natural disaster.

We reflect on the courage and strength shown by communities, including CFA members, CFA families and brigades, who lost so much in the fires and are reminded of their professionalism, dedication, courage and selfless bravery.

"THANK You And Well Done!" To:
Helen Wositzy, Tarryn Campbell, Tammy Garrett and Kate Grasby from the Eastern Metro TPP team. In the last 6 months they have developed new TPP's for the Dandenong Ranges and Healesville/Warburton corridors. This work includes community, Council and Brigade engagement; field testing the state-wide mapping product; development of "community socialisation" products such as coffee cups and "stubbie holders" to reinforce the "Fire Ready" messages. The result has been an excellent uptake of the TPP product and constructive feedback from those members of the community attending recent Brigade open days and events. This is important work. Thank you ladies!
"Well done!" to Captain Peter Connell and the Loch Sport brigade. The Brigade has just opened an extension (valued at around $150K) of a meeting room and two bay extension. The support of the community, through the locally famous "CFA Op Shop" has generated significant community funds.

"We're All In This Together":
This catch-phrase was the theme of a Bushfire Emerald, Clematis, Macclesfield and Menzies Creek Brigades Awareness Expo held recently at the Emerald Hall. Organised by the combined leadership team from, the day was a resounding success. Hundreds of people from the local community visited displays and exchanged views with DSE, VicPol, Parks Vic, Cardinia Shire, Bendigo Bank, St Marks Church, Emerald & District Co-op and the Emerald Community House. The State Aircraft Unit flew in Helitak 333, a Bell 212 Helitanker, which was a hit with everyone. The Expo included 4 "workshops" on fire prevention, leaving early and staying and defending planning. Another popular demonstration was a "burn table" on loan from DSE. Hessian is stretched over a steel frame which is set up with fuels and angles to simulate actual fire behaviour. This is a great learning tool. I was impressed and inspired by the huge effort that went into the planning and the unified passion for community resilience that was evident from agencies and from the public. A fantastic effort! Well done!

2009 Campaign Fires: "Thank you!"
CEO Mick Bourke, Board Chair Kerry Murphy and I have commenced the presentation of 2009 Campaign Fires certificates (one certificate goes to every brigade, group and work teams such as incident management teams) and individual Campaign Pins. A simple way of saying "Thank you".

Medium Helitanker Located At Sealake:
DCO Steve Warrington advises that a Birddog aircraft and a Helitanker are in place at Sea Lake for a period of eight weeks to cover the risks associated with the harvest season in the north west of the state. This is the first time we have allocated aircraft in this part of the State. This is a significant achievement that recognises the specific risks associated with harvesting operations. Thanks go to OM Bill Johnston, OO's Mathew Gardner, Wayne Rigg and Brett Boatman, with the support of Peter Higgins and the State Aircraft Unit team for their drive and tenacity to see this through. The rationale of resource allocation based on risk has the potential to save the State and the Victorian cropping community, particularly in the north west, millions of dollars with the rapid intervention of an aircraft during a fire event. This was a great team effort to get this across the line. Congratulations.

A History Of Bushfire In Australia:
GIS Manager Mark Garvey has sent the link below to an Australian Geographic animation of bushfires in Australia over the last 20 years or so. The animation is by NASA.
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/history-of-bushfires-in-australia.htm

Monday 7th February will be the second anniversary of the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires. It has been a busy time since 2009. Much has happened. Many of you will be aware of actions and programs that CFA has been implementing in order to meet the recommendations of the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission. Our goal is to make CFA a better and stronger organisation.

As we approach the second anniversary of the Victorian bushfires of February 2009 we remember and honour the 173 people who died.

 

I suppose it had to happen

I’d like to provide you with an update on the program of work to be delivered for fire season 2010-11. A great deal of work is underway and I am pleased to let you know the program is progressing well.

The State Government has responded to the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission’s (VBRC) recommendations and the CFA will implement many of these changes. We have worked with our partner agencies to introduce and deliver many improvements since the 2009 fire season and the pace of change has been rapid.

A considerable program of work is required to act on the changes for this fire season 2010-11.
In addition to the work delivered under the Bushfires Preparedness Program, a separate program of work will be implemented so we can act swiftly on the VBRC’s recommendations.

On Friday 3 September, the 2009 Fires Committee decided to bring the program offices of the Bushfire Preparedness Program 2010-12 and the Royal Commission Implementation Program together. Many of the projects have shared objectives, so it made sense to bring the two areas together for efficiency, effectiveness and consistency.

With the two areas of work now coming under one portfolio, the title of ‘Bushfires Program 2010-11’ will be used to refer to this body of work.  A new Bushfires Program Steering Committee has been established with the first meeting held on 16 September.

The work to be delivered for this fire season draws on the solid program of work delivered by our people under the Bushfires Preparedness Program last year. The core programs will remain, with an increased focus on working with the community in planning, preparedness, readiness and responding to fires. Work on the former Bushfire Preparedness projects is well advanced and a summary of the work to be delivered this year is contained in this memo. However, the implementation of the VBRC’s recommendations is being finalised and further information will be provided once the program of work is confirmed.

Resources
A workshop was held recently with Regional Managers (RMs) to discuss the Bushfires Program, service delivery targets and Districts/Regional staff resourcing. The funding for staff resources and service delivery has been weighted according to community risk and population exposure.

RMs and Human Resource Managers have identified employee resourcing requirements. Staff currently employed under BFPP may have their contracts extended from nine months to two years – to be determined by the Regional Manager.

Craig Hearson, from the Bushfires Program Project Office, is meeting with RMs over the next few weeks to assist with the development of Regional Bushfires Program Management Plans. Further information will be provided on these plans as they are finalised.

Bushfire Awareness Programs
An overview of some of the projects under the Bushfires Program for 2010-11 is provided below:

Community Fire Guard and Fire Ready Victoria program enhancement and delivery
This core project for Community Fire Guard (CFG) and Fire Ready Victoria (FRV) will remain the same with some content updated in line with the revised bushfire safety policy and VBRC recommendations. The project will be enhanced to ensure flexibility to meet local needs and bushfire risk, targeting higher risk communities and continued training for new and existing presenters and facilitators.

Community Fire Guard review – implement quality control and assurance
This project involves delivering and implementing an improved quality assurance and control system for the CFG program.

Household bushfire online self assessment tool
The current version of the Household Bushfire Self Assessment Tool (HBSAT) is currently under- going an update by an e-Learning company to improve the ease of navigation and useability of the tool. The updated version of HBSAT will be available for this coming fire season.

Children’s bushfire education
This project is based on the success of the 2009-10 ‘Lil’ Larrikins’ educational campaign. The project will align with other educational programs and will be implemented through programs such as CFG and FRV.

Review and develop new Community Safety publications
CFA is reviewing the publications used to support the community education activities across the state. Publications will be reviewed and developed to support the ongoing delivery of community development programs such as FRV and CFG, and will contain updated key messages.

Communications - community warnings and information
This project will ensure the CFA Chief Officer and delegates can issue timely and accurate bushfire warnings in line with s50B of the CFA Act and statutory obligations. Additional training will be provided for Information Officers around community warnings and information processes.

Programs for diverse populations
This project will continue to develop and deliver bushfire safety information aimed at people from diverse backgrounds, particularly vulnerable people living in high bushfire risk locations.

One Source One Message (single website)
This project will continue to implement improvements to the timelines, content and formation of messages by complying with the final VBRC recommendations and the national framework for bushfire advice. Information unit personnel and incident management teams will receive ongoing training.

Online community meetings system (CRM)
The customer relationship management (CRM) system has been updated and improved to allow for easier reporting and collation of customer information. Registrations for community meetings can be made online and this data will be used to help Districts/Regions with reporting and planning. A new CRM module has also been created for Neighbourhood Safer Places – Places of Last Resort (NSP-PLR). CFA staff and stakeholders will be able to share real time information on NSP-PLR nominations.

Building capacity to develop and deliver programs
This project provides funding directly to the Districts and Regions in order to build capacity and provide resources for the delivery of projects under the Bushfires Program.

Neighbourhood Safer Places – Places of Last Resort
This project will continue to provide policy information on Neighbourhood Safer Places - Places of Last Resort (NSP-PLR). Work will continue on assessments for places of last resort in high bushfire risk locations. This project will consider other bushfire shelter options such as the concept of 'Safer Precincts' and will include the establishment of an NSP -PLR online system for CFA, Councils and other stakeholders.

Township Protection Plans
Work will continue to deliver township protection plans to the top 52 high bushfire risk areas in Victoria. This project will also include extended community engagement programs to communities and other stakeholders.

Vegetation Management – wildfire environ, environmental compliance and quality assurance
These projects will deliver environmentally-sustainable fire management programs on roadside, railway corridors and privately owned land and will comply with integrated fire management planning processes. CFA will work with VicRoads and Municipal Association Victoria in developing and implementing guidelines for the assessment of vegetation on roadsides. Additional training will be provided to brigades to deliver this work.

Advice to property owners
CFA will continue to provide technical expertise to property owners on assessing bushfire risk. This project will focus on assisting community members in understanding their risk when exposed to bushfire and what is required to manage their property if they decide to stay and defend.

Victorian Fire Risk Register (VFRR)
The Victorian Fire Risk Register Team will deliver a bushfire risk register for all the Municipal areas and Alpine Resorts across Victoria by the commencement of the Fire Danger period.

Victorian Bushfire Information Line (VBIL)
In line with recommendations from the VBRC, the messages and information delivered by the VBIL will be timely and effective. CFA is improving information provided to the VBIL by updating the Frequently Asked Questions documents on a regular basis.

Command and Control
This project will focus on implementing changes to the State Emergency Response plan in line with recommendations from the Royal Commission. Changes will be made to how CFA prepares and responds, in line with other emergency services agencies. A key role will be for the Chief Officer’s delivery of information around emergency response.

Incident Management Teams (IMT) Incident command & leadership
This project is designed to enhance and develop statewide capability to prepare and deploy IMTs to resource predetermined Incident Control Centres across Victoria.

Intelligence Gathering and Analysis
This project consists of intelligence gathering initiatives including training and equipment to support ground observers and fire behaviour analysts, intelligence gathering tools and software. Research will be undertaken to develop and align CFA’s and DSE's capability to provide and share valuable information to the community.

Pre-established Incident Control Centres (ICCs) and Divisional Command Centres (DivComs)
CFA and DSE agreed standards for ICCs have now been implemented at the designated ICCs and work is continuing in relation to the DivComs. The focus will be to maintain these facilities with possible funding in the future for review and expansion.

Communications radio command channel
A review of communications is currently underway with a strategic focus on implementing recommendations from the Royal Commission. Tasks include fixing communications black spots and linking Command and Control channels into ICCs.

Feedback
Your feedback and questions on the Bushfires Program 2010-11 are important so please feel free to leave your comments below or email us at bfprogram@cfa.vic.gov.au

 

The State Government has now released its response to the final report of the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission, meaning the Fires Task Force is winding down.

For nearly 18 months, Saturday 31 July 2010 was marked in our collective consciousness as a landmark day for CFA. While we continued to make long-term plans beyond the due date of the Royal Commission's final report, we knew that our future would be influenced by the findings, whatever the outcome. Now that the recommendations have been handed down, we are focussed on the response.

The Premier announced on Monday that the Government supports in principle 59 of the Commission's 67 recommendations. The remaining recommendations are being further considered before a decision is made on their adoption. Premier Brumby has made a commitment to act swiftly and decisively, with a short and targeted consultation period before the Government delivers its final response.

The final report of the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission will be handed to the Governor this Saturday, 31 July. It should be made public by noon.

Premier John Brumby yesterday released a statement outlining arrangements for the public release of the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission report. (Read the Premier’s full media release).