Volunteer Fire Fighters Association

Coonabarabran residents in northern NSW looked on with a sense of deja vu at the forecast of catastrophic fire danger across the state this week.

It will be seven years in January since a fire that started in the Warrumbungle National Park in 2013 devastated properties in their area on what became known as Black Sunday.

The blaze burnt 56,000 hectares, injured 28 firefighters, razed 56 homes and killed hundreds of livestock. At the peak of the fire, 100 residents were evacuated.

Residents blame the state government for mismanagement of the national park and have fought for compensation. So far, despite the damning findings of a parliamentary inquiry and the promises of the relevant minister, their calls have gone unanswered.

Farmer Stephen Lill lost 200 cattle that day – and the repercussions continue today.

Too Much Red Tape:
Once we had a time where local brigades controlled their burning in their own patch. There wasn’t Big Brother looking over their shoulder asking them to tick a box, and they got burning done.

Over Bureaucratic:
One crew had been delayed by more than an hour from attending a fire because it didn’t have a volunteer with the right paperwork to drive an RFS truck. The crew member had done all the training but had to contact headquarters to get a form signed off before they could head out.

Looking After our Volunteers:
Maybe it’s time to think about how we assist volunteers financially, whether it be a tax break, or free diesel, or monetary payment or something to help volunteers balance the books when it comes to giving up their time.

Even a hippy in Nimbin knows that greenies are to blame for the power and intensity of NSW’s latest bout of tragic bushfires.

“The Greens have to cop it on the head — they have been obsessed with no fires and no burning,” Michael Balderstone told The Australian as bushfires engulfed the north coast.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. They oppose any sensible land management that is proven to reduce the severity of routine regular summer bushfires.

And when the inevitable happens they blame climate change.

A fierce feud has ignited between NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro and the Public Service Association following revelations the number of rangers, who perform hazard reduction burns, has been cut by a third since the Coalition came to power in 2011.

The Public Service Association has accused Mr Barilaro of gross hypocrisy after the Deputy Premier blamed the department for contributing to the state’s catastrophic fire conditions by failing to carry out extensive hazard reduction in the lead-up to bushfire season, labelling his comments “worse than an insult”.

In this time of catastrophic drought and bushfires, when is modern Australia – with all its technology and science – going to listen to Aboriginal people and how our ancestors survived this harsh continent? Warren Mundine asks.

If you think humans can control the weather, the elements and the climate, you’re kidding yourself. You’d have more success as King Canute sitting on his throne on the beach turning back the tide.

We can never stop or control the weather, the elements or the climate. But with Aboriginal traditional knowledge of this continent and modern science and technology working together we can manage it better with less destruction and loss of life.

On the eve of a potentially catastrophic day of bushfires, Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall has admitted not enough had been done to reduce the risk.

Mr Marshall said more hazard-reduction burns were needed more regularly, as farmers said they are fed up with environmentalists pushing to lock up national parks to keep “pristine” forest.

It comes as Volunteer Fire Fighters Association president Mick Holton claimed NSW authorities currently perform hazard-reduction burns on less than I per cent of fire-prone land each year.

An inquest into the fires that burned in 2017 has ordered the RFS to work with farmers to improve communication during major bushfires.

The Coroner found that the origin of the fire was on the property known as ‘Flagview South’ Sir Ivan Dougherty Drive, Leadville. The cause of the fire was a lightning strike on or near the top of a wooden strainer fence post which caused the post to smoulder for a number of days before igniting the fire on 11 February 2017.

The VFFA has been pushing for improved land management practices that include cool burning and other mitigation activities since our inception in 2004.

The following article is being shared as a point of interest, a type of “media watch” so that we can openly debate and discuss the issues.

ABC – RN Summary: It’s been the most devastating September for bushfires in this country on record. Experts are warning of more unprecedented weather events than ever before, and they’re calling for urgent national leadership. In this special collaboration.

A Coronial Inquiry into the Sir Ivan fire near Dunedoo is investigating its cause and how it was handled. Faith in the management of fire services has been shaken, and reports suggest volunteer numbers are dropping.

The VFFA has been observing a trend in recent years where farmers are increasing their own firefighting capability. In some cases, farmers are pooling resources in a manner that is somewhat like the beginnings of early bush fire services in NSW.

Photo: Grant Johnston in Tenterfield