2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
Interim Report
The Hon Bernard Teague AO – ChairPERSON
Ronald McLeod AM – Commissioner
Susan Pascoe AM – Commissioner
August 2009
By Authority
Government Printer for the State of Victoria
No. 225 – Session 2006–09
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PREFACE
Fire is a recurrent visitor in Australia’s environmental history. The flora and topography in Victoria render it one of the most bushfire-prone parts of the planet. Even with this history, 7 February 2009 was a day of unprecedented tragedy in the State. One hundred and seventy-three people died in one of the worst bushfires in Australian history. About 430,000 hectares of land were burnt, along with 2000 properties and 61 businesses. Entire towns were destroyed and around 78 communities were affected. The impact of these fires is seared into the consciousness of those who lived through them.
Under such adversity many people responded with courage and compassion. The volunteers who fought the fires and the individuals that supported their neighbours should be commended for their actions. Since the fires, many others have helped support fire-affected individuals and communities in the recovery process.
On 16 February 2009 the Victorian Government established the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, with broad terms of reference, to investigate the causes of, preparation for, responses to, and the impact on infrastructure of the fires that occurred in late January and early February 2009. In approaching this investigation the Commission has been acutely aware that the events of 7 February highlight the deadly consequences of extreme bushfires. The need to give primacy to saving lives is, therefore, at the forefront of the Commission’s intentions and has underpinned its inquiries and recommendations.
In making its recommendations, the Commission recognises that the responsibility for protecting life, property,
and community and environmental assets rests with the collective efforts of the whole community. Governments
have obligations to ensure that people have the information, support and infrastructure to enable them to live their lives in relative safety and wellbeing. They also have important operational responsibilities in emergencies. Individuals who choose to reside in bushfire prone areas need to ensure they are well informed about the nature of their environment. When bushfire threatens, they must take responsibility for their own safety and for those in their care. They need to be well prepared in advance and have a realistic appreciation of the risks involved.
The Commission appreciates the importance of linking its processes with affected communities. Not only are the views of affected individuals important to understanding the progress and impact of fire, but providing people with
a forum to tell their stories to an independent Commission is an important part of the healing process. Around 2500 people have attended community consultations, made written submissions and/or appeared as lay witnesses before the Commission.
This report is an interim report. It is the result of the first part of the Commission’s inquiries and focuses on recommending immediate actions that could be taken prior to the 2009–10 bushfire season. The final report is
due on 31 July 2010 and will cover the full scope of the Commission’s terms of reference. The Commission will monitor the progress of its interim recommendations and consider whether longer-term factors warrant their modification in its final report.
We commend this report to the people of Victoria as a partial account of the events of 7 February 2009, with the intent of providing recommendations to improve the preparation for and response to the 2009–10 bushfire season.
We dedicate our work to the memory of those who died in the fires, to those they left behind, to those who were injured and to those who fought to protect fellow Victorians.
The Hon Bernard Teague AO Ronald McLeod AM Susan Pascoe AM
Chairperson Commissioner Commissioner
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Abbreviations
ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation
AEMC Australasian Emergency Management Committee
AFAC Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council
AGDCC Attorney-General’s Department Coordination Centre (Commonwealth)
AIIMS Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System
AWS Automatic Weather Station
BoM Bureau of Meteorology
Bushfire CRC Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre
CAD Computer Aided Dispatch
CAP Common Alerting Protocol
CFA Country Fire Authority
CFS Country Fire Service (South Australia)
CIWS Community Information and Warning System
COAG Council of Australian Governments
COMDISPLAN Commonwealth Disaster Response Plan
CSC Customer Service Centre
CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
DACC Defence Assistance to the Civil Community
DECC Divisional Emergency Response Coordination Centre
DEECD Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
DERC Divisional Emergency Response Coordinator
DHS Department of Human Services
DIGO Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation
DPI Department of Primary Industries
DSE Department of Sustainability and Environment
EAS Emergency Alerting System
EMA Emergency Management Australia
ESTA Emergency Services Telecommunications Agency
FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
FDI Fire Danger Index
FFDI Forest Fire Danger Index
GFDI Grassland Fire Danger Index
ICC Incident Control Centre
iECC Integrated Emergency Coordination Centre
IFMPF Integrated Fire Management Planning Framework
IMF Incident Management Facility
IMS Incident Management System
IMT Incident Management Team
IPND Integrated Public Numbers Database
MAV Municipal Association of Victoria
MECC Municipal Emergency Coordination Centre
MEMP Municipal Emergency Management Plan
MERC Municipal Emergency Response Coordinator
MFB Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
NEO Networked Emergency Organisation
NIBA National Insurance Brokers Association
OASIS Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards
OESC Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner
RECC Regional Emergency Coordination Centre
SECC State Emergency Coordination Centre
SEOC State Emergency Operations Centre
SERCC State Emergency Response Coordination Centre
SERP State Emergency Response Plan
SEST State Emergency Strategy Team
SEWS Standard Emergency Warning Signal
TFB Total Fire Ban
The Manual Emergency Management Manual Victoria
TOR Terms of Reference
VBIL Victorian Bushfire Information Line
VEMC Victorian Emergency Management Council
VFRR Victorian Fire Risk Register
VICSES Victorian State Emergency Service
TABLE OF CONTENTS
introduction 1–8
Overview of 7 february 2009 2
COMMISSION PROCESS 3
the interim report 5
STRUCTURE OF INTERIM REPORT 6
protection of human life 6
Shared responsibility 6
emergency services personnel 8
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9–32
INTERIM REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS 24
THE FEBRUARY 2009 FIRES 33–82
Introduction 36
The Weather 36
Fire Behaviour 45
Fires Examined 48
Fire Activity Prior to 7 February 49
Bunyip 50
Delburn 52
Fire Activity on 7 February 54
Kilmore East 55
Horsham 60
Coleraine 62
Pomborneit–Weerite 64
Churchill 66
Murrindindi 69
Redesdale 72
Narre Warren 73
Bendigo 74
Beechworth–Mudgegonga 76
Fire Activity after 7 February 78
Previous Major Fires 79
ENGAGING COMMUNITIES 83–102
Communicating with the Commission 84
Fire-Affected Community Consultations 86
SUBMISSIONS 103–118
THE SUBMISSIONS PROCESS 104
THE Value of submissions 104
SUBMISSION Demographics 105
Recurring themes in submissions 106
CONCLUDING COMMENTS 118
WARNINGS 119–154
BUSHFIRE INFORMATION, WARNINGS AND TRIGGERS 120
BUSHFIRE INFORMATION AND EDUCATION IN VICTORIA 121
BUSHFIRE WARNINGS: THE WELL-TRODDEN PATH 122
WHAT MAKES A GOOD BUSHFIRE WARNING? 124
BUSHFIRE WARNINGS: THE SYSTEM IN VICTORIA ON 7 FEBRUARY 129
BUSHFIRE INFORMATION DISSEMINATED PRIOR TO 7 FEBRUARY 131
BUSHFIRE WARNINGS ON 7 FEBRUARY 133
HOW DID THE COMMUNITY RECEIVE AND UNDERSTAND THE WARNINGS on 7 february? 136
conclusions on the construction and content of BUSHFIRE warnings 142
TOWARDS A LONGER TERM APPROACH — A NEW CATEGORISATION SYSTEM 143
LESSONS FROM THE 2005 WANGARY FIRES AND PROJECT PHOENIX 144
RETHINKING THE Standard emergency warning signal 146
THE USE OF SIRENS AS A BUSHFIRE WARNING 148
A TELEPHONY-BASED EMERGENCY WARNING SYSTEM 151
INFORMATION 155–172
revisiting the fdi and the fire danger rating 156
Building A Single, multi-agency bushfire information website for Victoria 160
The Victorian Bushfire Information Line 163
RELOCATION 173–186
INtroduction 174
the Terminology of evacuation 174
Legislative and policy framework 175
ARGUMENTS AGAINST COMPULSORY EVACUATION 178
RELOCATION ON 7 fEBRUARY 179
protocols for RECOMMENDING timely RELOCATION 183
Stay or Go 187–204
The CURRENT ‘STAY OR GO’ POLICY AS APPLIED IN VICTORIA 188
COMMUNITY IMPLEMEnTATION OF THE stay or go policy 194
THEMES IN THE EVIDENCE on Stay or Go 201
Risk and Refuge 205–228
IDENTIFYING bushfire risk 206
Fire refuges AND SAFER PLACES 209
Schools and THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN 226
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY 229–260
AustralaSIAN inter-service incident management system 230
CASE STUDY: KILMORE EAST FIRE 236
THE iECC 255
AIIMS and INFORMATION — how it might change 259
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 261–276
VICTORIA’S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS 262
State Emergency Response Plan 264
Roadblocks 273
COMMONWEALTH RESPONSE 277–284
Division of responsibilities 278
THE ‘all hazards’ approach TO Natural disasters 279
COMDISPLAN and commonwealth aid 280
Commonwealth RESOURCES For detecting, tracking and suppressing fires 281
commonwealth involvement UP TO AND on 7 february 283
EMERGENCY CALLS 285–300
TRIPLE ZERO 286
THE ROLE OF eSTA 289
PREPARATION FOR 7 FEBRUARY 291
Events of 7 February 293
IMPROVING THE coordination and capacity of emergency call services 298
Next steps 301–304
ENDNOTES 305–352
INTRODUCTION 306
1 THE FEBRUARY 2009 FIRES 306
2 ENGAGING COMMUNITIES 316
3 SUBMISSIONS 317
4 WARNINGS 318
5 INFORMATION 325
6 RELOCATION 329
7 Stay or Go 331
8 risk and Refuge 334
9 INCIDENT MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY 338
10 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 345
11 COMMONWEALTH RESPONSE 348
12 EMERGENCY CALLS 349
13 NEXT STEPS 352
APPENDIX 1 – PARTIES GRANTED LEAVE TO APPEAR 353–354
APPENDIX 2 – HEARING DAYS AND WITNESSES 355–360
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