firstly, you can't blame the public for the confusion......god knows the experts dont always put out consistent information and certainly the media dont help in responsible reporting. Just because it is our chosen field of interest and WE understand it, doesnt mean EVERYONE has to understand it...so lets not be too harsh on them....i have no idea about tuning triple carbies....but to a mechanic I'm sure its relatively straight forward
So....stay or go....definitely not the silver bullet...in fact, in some cases downright dangerous as a single message.....because sometimes its impratical to do either!!
works fine if you are in the Adelaide Hills on the urban fringe, where u can be somewhere like TTP or Marion inside 15 minutes. No problems with allowing people to chose then, but....
- what if you at the shops and suddenly something springs up. You're not home so your plan to stay is in danger....what do u do....head home to defend?....on the road you die, or at best become a pain in the arse for responding crews trying to get access to save your house
- what do u do if the kids are at the park next door....or at their friends down the street....no time to find them cos the firefront is fast approaching....the family where the kids are plan was to go....but they have left it too late...what do they do....what do they do with your kids?
- You plan to stay and defend.....but when the firefront arrives you are blinded by the smoke (cheap smoke goggles never keep it all out) and in the end you lose your nerve...after all you've never faced anything like this......what do u do?...leave....remember on the roads...you die, or at best get in the way
- How long do you go for? Do you go every fire ban day? What about those days where the FDI is 48 instead of 50 (and you all know my thoughts I'm sure on what a B/S figure FDI really is) Would Joe Public even know that its that bad....or would he just go - No FireBan....no Danger?
- what if you live in a town like Marysville....where there is no-where else to go? Stay or go doesnt apply
Theres a hundred other scenarios where stay or go is flawed....i'm not saying its the wrong message....but its just a small component of a wider survivability approach. You cant reasonably expect peoples whole survival to depend on a decision made at 9am in the morning to go or stay....for the entire next 24 hrs...(remember those pesky fires at night that can sneek up too.....do you stay or go just in daylight hours?
For my part, things to include;
discuss the drawbacks of stay or go....there are lots, and lots of good points to it as well.
Arm people with the best available facts about defence of their homes....not folklore from the CFS shed. In this we cant afford armchair experts. If you dont have a Fire Engineering degree,.....then dont provide solutions.
Look at fallback survivability options. The first company to make a drop in bunker where u dig a 8x6 hole 2 feet deep, drop in a shelter and pile a bit of dirt on the northern sides and provide it at a cost of under $500 will clean up. In the Dandenongs, after Ash Wednesday, they developed a series of community refuges, because they knew that escape wouldnt be possible. When it turns to scheiße, thats where they head....all within a cpl minutes from where they live. The large remainder of Victoria didnt follow suit, because they were spared a lot of the grief from Ash Wednesday, and they thought they wouldnt have the same issues. Time to revisit these. Whatever the result....when your defences get overwhelmed by a large magnitude fire like we saw in Victoria (or Ash Wednesday, or 1955, or 1939)....then u need a fall back safe refuge.
Maybe in some of the roads in the hills....u need remote controlled barriers to stop people trying to access the fireground - something to keep people away from the hot stuff
Maybe we look at the Community Fire Response model that NSW use ....where a group of householders hold up their hand to be given an amount of training, and equipment to look after houses their street as much as they can. Quite effective in cul de sacs that back onto bushland. Perfect?...no....but its about layered defence and increasing chances of survival
I talked to a guy today whose house backed onto the southern edge of Sturt Gorge. Under a northerly wind, a fire whipping out of the Gorge will be licking his back fence. He has a 40,000l pool....and so do his 4 neighbours either side....why not provide him with some fixed plumbing at no cost to make that available at the fenceline....or out the front where an appliance might reasonably tuck in for some protection AND attack the fire or save the row of houses. Fire response planning must take a higher priority - with real firefighters taking charge in each Group....not leaving it to one poor donkey per Region to plan an effective response. To do this.... might mean a paid Group Officer (doesnt have to be THE Group Officer I hasten to add) that is responsible for Fire Response OPS Planning....real planning, for real operations , not dinky models that have the word AIIMS in it. Another in the Group to look at Fire Prevention...not a Ranger not an Admin type with Bushfire prevention as a secondary task after catching dogs, not a retired old Captain who last fought a fire 20years ago when cows were in paddocks that now have factories in them.
Lets educate our Firefighters on Prevention. We have a wonderful training system....but unless u want simplistic single skill training (wildfire, BA, Hazmat etc..), then theres nothing available from it. In higher levels of learning, it lets us down badly. There are resources readily available to train our Group Officers, Brigade Leaders or even baggy arse firefighters in response planning, fire prevention and even inspecting Dangerous Substance Facilities ....remember those things....those hardware stores with a plethora of things waiting to burn with all the colours of the rainbow....or the Crash Repair Shop with all manner of solvents, paints, glues and flammable liquid, or even the local Cold Stores, complete with ammonia plant, FSP walls, and flammable refrigerant. All those places where we have the authority to enter and assess their compliance with the Australian Dangerous Goods Code Vers 7 (did you know we got a new version with lots of changes in January?)
Educating OUR people is the first step to educating the public.
Is all of this easy?....nup, no way. But we have a Training Department, a Community Safety Department, an OPS Planning Department, and a bunch of Assistant Chiefs and highly paid managers....out of all that, and with a well staffed request for funds.....if we cant make a difference then "viva le' guillotine" and lets change the people concerned because THIS IS OUR CORE BUSINESS
Right, I'm off for a Bex and a good lie down.....
