Australian Workers’ Union claims ‘rookie’ NPWS staff fighting fires
A major union has written to Environment Minister Matt Kean claiming lives of National Parks and Wildlife Service officers are in danger after “inexperienced” staff have been sent in to major bushfire zones.
NSW
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Inexperienced NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service staff are being sent to fight raging bushfires without crew leaders and have been trapped in cars as flames “run over” them in a series of “near misses” which came close to tragedy, a union has claimed.
A shortage of staff is causing a series of problems, like a contracted bulldozer used to create a firebreak being burned beyond repair with a lack of on-the-ground “spotters” to blame, the Australian Workers’ Union says.
The union claims that on Tuesday a national parks resources co-ordinator relayed to staff the difficulty in filling new bushfire strike team requests as “there was no-one left to send”.
The incidents have prompted the union to demand the state government temporarily reinstate some of the most experienced firefighters who worked for the NSW NPWS before it was restructured.
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Australian Workers’ Union NSW branch secretary Daniel Walton said in a letter to Environment Minister Matt Kean that NPWS staff were “deeply concerned” that lives might be lost this fire season.
“In recent weeks, we have heard of at least two occasions in which inexperienced officers in vehicles ended up trapped by a blaze and forced to wait in their car while the fire went over them,” the letter said.
“We have heard of a bulldozer that was destroyed when conditions changed, and the operator was entrapped by fire.”
In November there had been “multiple” occasions of inexperienced officers being sent in to the field without a crew leader, it said.
Crew leaders were responsible for assessing fire and track conditions, warning of ember attack, watching for smoke colour and wind changes or shifts in temperature that would indicate a fire behaviour was changing.
In the case of firefighters being forced to take cover in vehicles, situations such as this were extremely rare when there was a crew leader present, the letter said.
NPWS underwent a major restructure starting in 2016 before the agency was merged with NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment earlier this year.
According to veteran firefighter Garth Toner, the restructure resulted in the replacement of staff highly experienced in fire management with less qualified field officers.
Mr Toner, who fulfilled the role of incident commander in some of the State’s biggest fires before leaving the job after 32 years, said the loss of experience was evident on the ground.
He said staff at one regional depot were told by an inexperienced supervisor in the lead-up to the bushfire season not to bother refuelling tanks for firefighting aircraft as it was “likely to rain” before they were needed.
In another incident, a divisional commander was given a “petrol-fuelled, administration Toyota Corolla” to drive to a fire instead of the recommended diesel-fuelled 4WD, which allows for closer, safer access.
Minutes from an NPWS “state situation meeting” held on December 3 show just how stretched resources are with a report declaring: “No point asking for large new strike teams as there is no one left to send.”
Mr Toner said some of the stories emerging from the fire ground were concerning.
“What is evidence is that there is a definite reduction in experience. With the amount of near misses that have been reported in quick succession, I am really worried it is going to end up in tragedy.”
Mr Kean, who inherited the restructured NPWS in April, said he would follow the advice of the officials managing the situation on the ground as to what support was needed.
“This is an unprecedented fire emergency and the National Parks and Wildlife Service has made a substantial contribution to the firefighting effort,” he said.
“My focus right now is on supporting them and I welcome constructive ideas on how we can best do that.”
A Department of Planning and Environment spokeswoman said the deployment of resources would be reviewed as the season unfolded.
“The National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) maintains a fit and prepared firefighting workforce that has adequate resources to conduct hazard reduction and emergency response activities,” she said.