Kangaroo Island fire review: Calls for ‘swift action’ follow CFS report
KI locals say they still need answers on why the catastrophic bushfire wasn’t contained more quickly.
SA News
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Findings from a review into CFS’s response to the Kangaroo Island fires must be addressed immediately, locals say, but they also want swifter action to stop blazes in national parks.
Firefighting volunteers packed a meeting in Kingscote on Monday night, to hear the contents of a review of the organisation’s response to the fires in December 2019 and January 2020.
Another is planned for the general community in Parndana tonight.
Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly said many wanted answers on how events unfolded, including why action wasn’t taken more swiftly to contain the fire in Flinders Chase National Park.
Locals have questioned whether water bombers could have been sent to quell the blaze, or bulldozers used to create fire breaks, stopping it from spreading to other areas.
Calls have also been made for more regular fuel reduction burns in parks.
Mr Pengilly said his community was at a “tipping point”, 14 months after the fires, which significantly damaged or destroyed 119 homes and killed two people. Many are still waiting for their homes to be rebuilt.
“The real, harsh reality of people not having houses or not having their businesses going again is hitting home,” Mr Pengilly said. “I’m quite concerned about where the community is going to go over the next 6-8 months.”
The fires burned through 211,000ha and killed almost 60,000 livestock animals.
The review found a range of problems including a “disproportionate level of attention” given to protecting buildings in Flinders Chase, deficiency in resources, communication breakdowns and inadequate technology.
Mr Pengilly supported the report’s findings and wanted them acted upon “immediately”.
The State Government last year said an extra $37m over five years would allow it to increase prescribed burns in parks and on private land.
Agriculture KI chairman Rick Morris said the fire management outlook now looked much more positive.
“When this does happen again they can start backburning small areas and working with machinery to contain the fires within small areas rather than having the whole park burn,” Mr Morris said.
“As time goes on, people forget and Ag KI’s job will be to keep reminding the politicians that we need this money and … we need to keep reviewing the fuel loads in strategic areas to never let this happen again.”
Gosse farmer Ben Davis, who lost his home, said previous commitments to carry out extra cool burns – including after the 2007 fire in Flinders Chase – had fallen short of expectations.
CFS chief officer Mark Jones said decisions during the emergency were made “within the context of the information and resources available at the time.
“Of course, with the gift of hindsight there are things we would have done differently, and we will work through these recommendations … to strengthen our service across SA,” he said.
Emergency Services Minister Vincent Tarzia said a $97.5m bushfire action plan, in response to former police commissioner Mick Keelty’s 2019/20 bushfire review, included the first permanent CFS staff on Kangaroo Island.
Automated Vehicle Location technology will also boost fireground intelligence when rolled out later this year.
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