Page 13 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 11 February 2020
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along the east coast of Australia. The ESA sent firefighters and specialist emergency management personnel to Queensland and northern New South Wales through September, October and November of 2019 to assist.
In December, fires burning in New South Wales closer to our borders brought smoke, the first impact of the bushfire season that our community would have to endure. As the fires intensified in our region and our community dealt with the unprecedented smoke, I declared a state of alert on 2 January 2020. This was based on expert advice in response to the conditions around us and those that were predicted to emerge. It was the first time we made such a declaration and, in doing so, it helped the ESA commissioner and her team improve our community’s preparedness and awareness of the threats that the long, dry summer was bringing.
Our territory has already experienced record-breaking temperatures, with two records broken within a few weeks. The highest daytime temperature was recorded at 45 degrees and the highest night-time record was 26.7 degrees. Between 1 October 2019 and 4 February 2020, the ACT has declared a record of 24 total fire ban, or TOBAN, days. To put this into context, the ACT on average sees five or six TOBANs per bushfire season.
Following the hot and dry conditions, the ACT experienced severe thunderstorms, producing large hailstones, on 20 January this year. The ACT State Emergency Service, or ACTSES, received approximately 2,500 calls for assistance, another record number for ESA. Three days later, on 23 January, the ACT experienced its first significant bush and grassfire of the season. The fire started at the Pialligo redwood forest and quickly spread through to Beard, threatening Oaks Estate and Queanbeyan. An additional fire started in Pialligo the following day that joined with the first, eventually taking the fire to 424 hectares. Thankfully, this fire was declared as extinguished on 29 January.
On 27 January 2020, the Orroral fire commenced. This fire threatened the southern rural areas of the ACT, most notably Tharwa and the southern suburbs of Canberra, our beloved south of Canberra. The Orroral Valley fire remained out of control until 8 February this year, when, after receiving some much-needed rainfall, the status of the fire was downgraded to being controlled. The Orroral fire has burned 86,000 hectares and over 30 per cent of the ACT.
The response to the Orroral, Beard, and Pialligo fires has been significant. Much is owed to the expertise and professionalism of the ACT Rural Fire Service, ACT Fire & Rescue, ACTSES, the ACT Parks and Conservation Service, aviation rescue and firefighting services, the NSW Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue NSW, ACT Policing, and the Australian Defence Force.
Their collective efforts minimised the impact of these fires and ensured that there was no loss of life. The strategies and efforts in combatting the Orroral fire have protected Tharwa and the southern suburbs of Canberra. This is a credit to all, including those men and women who have worked in the background and those who have helped support frontline efforts, from our mechanics to our IT specialists and a range of public servants from across government. This work was assisted by the extensive
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