CFS Volunteers Association welcomes bushfire review findings and use of AVL technology
For half an hour, a senior CFS officer had no idea where four of his volunteers were when they became trapped in a terrifying burnover during the 2015 Pinery bushfire. Could a new system prevent tragedy this summer?
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CFS volunteers have largely welcomed the 15 recommendations made in an independent review into the state’s 2019/20 bushfire season, but would like to see more paid staff in regional areas.
One of the most highly praised recommendations was the use of an Automatic Vehicle Location system.
Gumeracha Group Officer Rick Drury, who was at the centre of the 2015 Pinery bushfires, said the new technology is vital for volunteers heading into life and death situations.
Mr Drury was in charge of a Hermitage CFS crew that became trapped on a dirt road at Wasleys during the inferno.
Flames leapt over the truck as four volunteers sheltered behind a heat-reflective curtain and fire blankets inside.
“I had a phone call and was asked where my strike team was and I said ‘I don’t know’,” Mr Drury said.
“I didn’t know for 30 minutes – that was probably the worst 30 minutes of my life as a Group Officer, because no one knew where they were; we didn’t know what happened.”
AVL technology will be trialled in some CFS trucks next summer following the report by former Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty.
“With AVL – which I have been pushing for since Pinery – it will allow us to just look on our (computer) and say ‘there they are’,” Mr Drury, who has been a volunteer for 42 years, said.
Mr Keelty’s review stated it was “disappointing” that AVL technology was not implemented after the Pinery bushfire.
“An example of inaction from previous reviews is the failure to provide automatic vehicle location systems to the CFS fleet,” the review read.
“To have not proceeded with this recommendation after the Pinery fires in 2015 is disappointing.”
The CFS Volunteers Association largely welcomed Mr Keelty’s findings, especially the recommendation for an independent chair for the SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission.
President Adam Wood said on Monday: “It has been our position for many years that an independent chair of SAFECOM is required”.
The State Government committed $20.3 million towards several initiatives discussed in the review, including 25 new trucks, thermal imaging cameras and a lightning tracking system.
Mr Wood, however, said more paid staff are needed within the CFS.
“We need more staff – we have the lowest staff to volunteers ratio in the country,” he said.
Mr Drury said it is important to have more paid staff, especially in regional areas, to handle duties so volunteers can focus on fighting fires.
“It’s something that has been an underlying issue for a number of years.”
The review follows one of the worst bushfire seasons in SA history.
Three people died – Ron Selth in the Cudlee Creek inferno and brothers Dick and Clayton Lang on Kangaroo Island.
About 280,000ha of land was burnt and 68,000 livestock perished and $200 million worth of agricultural production was lost.