Onus on residents to stay safe and heed warnings, former fire chief Mike Brown says

UPDATE: A group of emergency services leaders, including a former Tasmanian fire chief, knew this was going to be a horrifying season and tried twice to discuss their concerns with the PM but were ignored.

A FORMER fire chief has warned the community it cannot rely on firefighters to save their lives and homes this summer.

Former Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Mike Brown said householders needed to do more to mitigate risk.

TALKING POINT: CLIMATE CHANGE IS TESTING LIMITS OF FIREFIGHTERS

Based on recent patterns, some fire fronts could prove too ferocious to fight, no matter how many resources the TFS mustered, Mr Brown said.

“We can’t rely on putting resources in front of a big fire because sometimes it’s not going to do it. We’ve got to harden the community if you like.”

And he said Hobart residents were unwise to remain complacent simply because they lived in built-up areas.

Former TFS Chief Officer Mike Brown. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

“We need people to understand their risk and know how to respond both in preparation for the fire season and then in an active sense when fires are happening,” Mr Brown said.

Ember attack ahead of a fire front was a vastly underestimated risk in urban and suburban areas and residents living near suburban/bushland interface zones were particularly at risk. Echoing a call by incumbent fire chief Chris Arnol, Mr Brown urged Tasmanians to reduce their household’s fire risk now by following preparation advice on the TFS website at: fire.tas.gov.au

CAFE SOCIETY: ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ MOMENT

Former Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Mike Brown stepped down in 2015. No longer absorbed by an all-consuming operational role in a defined area, he took a bigger-picture view. Though he was across unfolding climate change impacts, the rise in catastrophic and extreme weather events alarmed him. And so did the country’s unpreparedness for it.

TALKING POINT: GOVERNMENTS FACE A RECKONING IN THE COURTS OVER CLIMATE CHANGE FAILURE

Early last year Mike joined 32 other emergency services leaders to form the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group, a powerhouse of veterans concerned enough about climate inaction to stand strong and united even as they were ignored by the Prime Minister and disparaged as puppets of conservationist Tim Flannery by some media commentators.

In April and then again in May last year the Climate Action group sought to discuss its concerns and make recommendations to the PM but were ignored. They knew this was going to be a horrifying fire season but their warnings fell on deaf ears.

Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud. Picture: ROHAN THOMSON/GETTY IMAGES

When they finally met Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud and Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor in early December, a perfunctory session ended with a dismissive ‘heard it all before’ press release dispatched before they had even left the building.

“The criticism comes up that ‘why didn’t we make comments about climate change when we were in our careers. The truth is I knew about climate change and understood it, but probably didn’t realise the scope and scale of it and what was in it for our back yards and our country.

“It is only when I got to retirement that I reflected on the busyness of the last decade. We have a history in Australia – and Tasmania – of major bushfires. They used to be more or less once a generation events.”

TALKING POINT: HOW BLACK SATURDAY CHANGED EVERYTHING

From the 1990s, extreme events were happening more like once a decade, and then even more frequently, with the 2013 Dunalley bushfires representing a turning point in Tasmania.

“This is real and escalating and is occurring far faster than originally thought. So I was only too pleased to join the group of leaders for climate action. There’s now 30 of us with the main aim of campaigning for action on our woeful carbon emissions. Per capita, we are in the worst five emitters worldwide.”

It feels trite to say I told you so, says Mike when we meet at Spencers near his Lindisfarne home to talk about the unfolding national bushfire crisis and what he sees as unforgivable inaction by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Measures could have been taken months ago, says Mike, to prepare, including boosting air capacity, engaging the military for major events for logistical and transport support – and that wasn’t acted on until a week ago.

“It was very disappointing it was so late, but at least it did happen, along with $20 million additional for aerial firefighting support and commitment for that to continue.”

St Marys TFS volunteers during back burning operations at Fingal. PICTURE CHRIS KIDD

A number of the group’s requests remain unaddressed, including a Federal Government commitment to ongoing research through the Bushfire Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre operating through universities nationwide.

“There’s all sorts of things that need to be answered across the whole spectrum. The research on aerial firefighting across the world is really scant but aircraft use is an expensive asset, and we need to know more about what aircrafts are best suited to what situations.

“We also need more researching on volunteer recruitment. The age profile is high currently and the number of volunteers is declining from a base of about 250,000. So far as the whole payment of volunteers issue goes, while I was in the job volunteers always told me they didn’t want payment.

“They saw payment impacting on the ethos of volunteering. I’ve been out of the job for four years … perhaps the pressure is so great now they probably do need some reimbursement.”

Whichever, the Federal Government needs to bring clarity and consistency rather than kneejerk handout announcements to the table, he says.

Mike is pleased to see the PM has now committed to a COAG forum with the premiers to discuss future needs, but thinks a broader national forum is needed to investigate how fire services are structured and equipped and how they operate, including intrastate kit and firefighter sharing arrangements. Expect more changes from our emergency services in response to out-of-control fires, he says, including ever-growing emphasis on warnings and their successful dissemination to entire communities.

The poor leadership and judgment demonstrated by Morrison before his ascension when he goaded the opposition with a lump of coal in his hand is inexcusable, says Mike, and little has changed since.

Until recent days, at least. “The rhetoric seems to change,” he says. “The latest comment we are hearing is yes we have always apparently said climate change is real and has an impact on bushfires. I don’t think he was saying that a few weeks ago …”