Tathra bushfire: Fire and Rescue NSW offers to help battle blaze declined hours before devastation
RURAL Fire Service volunteers knocked back two offers of help from Fire and Rescue NSW in the hours leading up to the Tathra inferno that razed 69 homes on Sunday. Logs show the authority twice wanted to send brigades but was rejected.
THE Rural Fire Service knocked back two offers from Fire and Rescue NSW to send emergency brigades to fight the Tathra bushfire in the hours before dozens of homes were destroyed on Sunday.
Fire and Rescue NSW incident logs show the state government agency, recognising a high volume of Triple 0 calls flooding the system, tried to send a crew to fight the fire outbreak at Reedy Swamp in Bega Valley at 12.34pm and then again at 12.58pm.
But both of the offers from the body responsible for fire fighting in towns and cities were declined by the Rural Fire Service, the biggest volunteer fire service in the world.
Fire and Rescue NSW’s log for 12.58 reads: “FR assistance offered and declined.”
It wasn’t until three hours later as the fire tore into the south coast town that the RFS issued a request for help at 3.40pm. “Priority request. From RFS. fire front approaching Tathra req (sic) all available FRNSW appliances to Wildlife Dr,” the log shows.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding between the two agencies, the Rural Fire Service is required to formally accept an offer of assistance from Fire and Rescue before the government agency is able to respond to emergencies.
There was no warning that said we should consider evacuating
After the offers for assistance were rejected, Fire and Rescue NSW dispatched a pumper engine crew from nearby Bega to Reedy Swamp at 1.03pm saying according to the log it was “probably” in their jurisdiction in any case. It arrived at 1.19pm.
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By then the fire had rapidly increased in intensity, crossing the Bega River to Tathra, where fire defences were powerless to stop it wreaking havoc and destroying 69 homes along with 30 cabins and caravans.
The incident logs show there were about 48 Triple 0 calls received for the Reedy Swamp Fire. When the fire escalated in Tathra, Fire and Rescue NSW sent at least a dozen brigades from Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bega, Merimbula, Thredbo, Berry, Nowra and Braidwood.
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An RFS spokesman said the first Triple 0 calls were received just before 12.30pm on Sunday and firefighters from a number of local RFS were dispatched with the first arriving on scene at 12.43pm.
The spokesman said the blaze was in remote and rugged bushland with restricted access for the Fire and Rescue NSW pumper and hazardous materials vehicle.
“The local NSW RFS duty officer who received the offer of assistance, based on the information they had on the location and terrain, identified that the vehicle would not be able to gain access to the area.
“As an urban structure firefighting vehicle, the pumper is not suitable for firefighting areas off established roads and does not have the correct safety equipment to be working in a remote bushland area.”
The spokesman said when the fire jumped the Bega River and escalated, assistance was requested and provided by Fire & Rescue NSW, as well as other RFS brigades.
Emergency Services Minister Troy Grant said there would be an investigation into Sunday’s operations.
“This review will consider the causes of the fire, and the response of all agencies involved,” a spokesman said. Residents yesterday expressed fury they received no warning text messages or they came too late.
By the time the RFS sent out a warning at 3.48pm to the residents of Thompson Drive, David Neyle’s wife and sons had already fled.
“There was no warning that said we should consider evacuating,” Mr Neyle said.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian defended the warnings as she visited the devastated town to try to console its population of just 1700.
“Communication was a challenge, but I’m absolutely confident we did everything we could as quickly as possible to get the message out,” she said.
Some residents claimed hazard reduction burns around their homes had not been carried out for decades before the inferno, blaming “green” groups. Vegetation in the area had created tinderbox conditions, they said.
The Public Service Association said Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton was told last March about a shortage on the south coast of environmental department staff, who usually conducted hazard burning.
PSA Industrial Manager Nathan Bradshaw said the union and Ms Upton had a second meeting on December 12 and again discussed how a restructure was affecting resources on the south coast.
A letter obtained by The Daily Telegraph shows the Public Service Association of NSW wrote to Ms Upton on September 26 last year warning the restructure would affect services.
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However, Ms Upton strongly rejected the PSA’s allegations.
“Any suggestion that the restructure of NPWS staff is connected with the Tathra fire is utterly contemptible,” she said.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal the last time a planned burn was conducted to protect the township of Tathra was as far back as 2014.
The RFS said 93 “hazard reduction activities” have been undertaken in the immediate area around Tathra between 2006 and 2017.
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