Page 122 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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city, from home owners who had fled their homes, from volunteer firefighters wishing to pass on information.
We got updates on roadblocks, on the emergence of spot fires, and I can clearly remember getting a call from a distressed resident on Dixon Drive asking for information on his house. I cannot remember the number of the house, but we were able to confirm through further calls that the house had survived. I still meet people, 17 years later, who thank me for that night of broadcasting. They talk to me about how calm and measured we were on that afternoon and evening and say that, without that broadcast, there was no way of knowing what was going on in the suburbs in the thick black smoke.
But, of course, getting out information should not have actually been needed in that way. One of the biggest things that shone through for me on that afternoon and evening was the lack of any real and relevant information from our emergency services bureau.
I understand that, as I was undertaking that broadcast at Mix 106.3, there was a similar operation being undertaken at the local ABC, but they were scratching around for any relevant information that they could get our hands on, in the knowledge that the magnitude of the emergency had overwhelmed the relevant authorities. The McLeod inquiry looked into the response to those fires and the McLeod report told us:
The Emergency Services Bureau centre in Curtin … was unable to handle efficiently the large amount of data and communications traffic into and out of the centre at the height of the crisis. This affected the operational managers’ ability to control and direct their assets on the ground …
It is fascinating to wind the clock forward to 2020, having, I think, learned a lot of things in 2003, but we really saw how not to deal with a major fire emergency—with all respect to those involved, because I know the McLeod report also did not question the endeavour and the commitment of those involved. But there were a number of things we made a mess of, particularly on the communications front. The response in 2020 was at least 20 times better than in 2003. The constant flow of relevant information was a comfort to all of us, and I want to commend all those involved.
It is so important that we understand that, although our response to these fires was exceptional—and we have already heard this from the minister—it probably was not perfect. Our response was not perfect. There will be many things that we could have done better, and we just have to make sure that people understand that it is okay to suggest that some mistakes were made.
I was at a somewhat fiery meeting at the Tharwa community hall on the Thursday morning leading up our potentially catastrophic weekend. It was very clear to me on that morning that there were some major differences of opinion on operational matters. A number of Tharwa landholders were absolutely ropeable that they had been given a virtual green light for back-burning much earlier in that week, to subsequently have it withdrawn.
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