Tathra fire: lessons of merger ignored, former coroner says

More houses could have been saved in Tathra if the rural fire service had accepted an offer of help, former coroner says.

A fire that ripped through Tathra, on the NSW south coast, destroyed 69 homes. Picture: Jessie Collins/Twitter

The coroner who recommended the NSW rural and metropolitan fire services be merged more than 20 years ago has urged the state government to finally heed his advice in the wake of the Tathra inferno that destroyed 69 homes.

Former senior deputy coroner John Hiatt, who produced a five-volume report into the devastating 1994 NSW bushfires, said more Tathra homes might have been saved if the Rural Fire Service had accepted help from the professional Fire and Rescue NSW when it was first offered shortly after midday on Sunday.

One of the reasons cited for not accepting the assistance was that the blaze was in remote bushland and the metropolitan firefighting vehicles were not appropriate for the terrain.

But Mr Hiatt questioned today why the vehicles were not sent to assist locals to protect their homes and other assets in the town, while the rural volunteer firefighters worked to contain the fire in the bush.

“They (Fire and Rescue NSW) needn’t go into the bush, they could’ve made the stand there to protect property and lives,” he said.

He questioned whether problems he identified in his 1996 report, relating to communication and accountability between the metropolitan and rural fire services, were still hampering firefighting efforts today.

“If you have one organisation, you’ve got direction of communication all the way down, everyone is on the same page ... (and) you’ve got accountability all the way through,” he said.

As residential areas continued to push further into the bush, he believed his recommendation to create a single, accountable fire command was even “more relevant”.

“I believe it’s time for them to reconsider it,” he said.

The 82-year-old, who was a coroner for 36 years and examined numerous bushfires and fuel management plans, stands by his recommendations.

“I know I’m right, you can see what’s happening now,” he said.

He was “very concerned” at the time that the government didn’t act on his key recommendation, because he believed it was in the public interest.

Former NSW senior deputy coroner John Hiatt. Picture: James Croucher

“I could see no reason why such a recommendation wouldn’t have been put into place because the accountability and protection of the community are foremost,” he said.

“To my way of thinking, they could structure one service to make sure they accommodate all the volunteers because they’re absolutely crucial to the structure.”

He believed his report was “buried” by the Carr government in 1996 for political reasons.

However, former NSW premier Bob Carr said he stood by the decision not to merge the two fire services.

“I’ve always taken the view that there’s a huge advantage in having a volunteer rural fire services, and to merge them would mean that we would lose that,” he said.

He said the rural fire service had served NSW well, and he still believed it was the right decision not to merge the two entities.

“Our starting point ought to be that if it’s not broke, don’t intervene,” he said.

“Second, if more co-ordination is required look at doing it without collapsing both organisations into a new entity. The rule should be, only embark on new structures if there is a compelling case.”