Throw big assets at small fires

What a tragedy that only six years later, the ferocity of firestorms and the unforgiving nature of the Australian environment has repeated the lessons for governments, bureaucrats, environment managers and most unfortunately, the people living in the path of the bushfires.

In the AAAA submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into Bushfires in 2003, AAAA focused on the need for a strategic approach to aerial firefighting with an emphasis on aggressive initial attack. AAAA cited government assessments that for every dollar spent on aircraft firebombing, four to five dollars were saved by the community.

While many States have improved their use of aggressive initial attack, there are other strategic factors at play that will limit the effectiveness of aircraft and ground crews so that almost regardless of the resources available, there would be little that could be done in the face of very high winds and tinder dry and heavy fuel loads.

Increasing the number of reserves and national parks without a commensurate increase in resources available to manage it is a formula for disaster. Australians (and their vote-seeking governments) love their bush, but to simply abandon responsibility for management after the initial euphoria of gazettal is negligence at its worse.

The continuing lack of comprehensive and strategic fuel reduction burns to reduce the risk of wildfire is at the heart of this problem. Many government environmental managers consistently underperform in terms of meeting hazard reduction targets. Like it or not, fuel reduction must be addressed as it is fundamental to fire management.

Local government planning and building laws that permit sub-divisions and building in forested areas without appropriate consideration of fire-planning, materials or emergency protection need to be reconsidered. Communities with limited access roads and often no understanding of the speed of fire should not be set-up to bear the brutal force of Australian fires, especially after the Canberra fires redefined the speed of fires. Fire cellars or bunkers that saved at least one family, for example, might be a useful addition to planning requirements.

The ‘leave early or stay and defend’ advice that became popular after the Canberra fires needs to be questioned in the face of such a death toll. This policy may be relevant where fire fighting resources are adequate, landholders are well educated about what ‘early’ means, fuel reduction around assets is possible and a number of emergency egress routes are available. But in forested, hilly terrain with limited access and in communities where knowledge of fire behavior is limited, this policy may have proven disastrous.

More aircraft and potentially larger ones on contract are an obvious first step in building better response capability for aggressive initial attack. Similarly, on the rotary front, smaller machines should be replaced with larger capacity machines that can deliver meaningful loads. In the rotary versus fixed wing debate the real answer is of course the right tool for job is required. This will vary on the job, ferry distances, water availability and so on.

If the fire is attacked when small, the opportunity for it to develop into the raging inferno we see on TV all too regularly is simply avoided.

Throwing big assets at small fires makes more sense that throwing what will almost always be inadequate resources at massive firestorms.

A better system of early warning and early tasking of aircraft should be a key recommendation of the inevitable Government inquiries to follow the Victorian disaster. Aircraft can then bomb in the better conditions of the early morning rather than the washing machine turbulence driven by higher temperatures later in the day. Just because paid government employees don’t like getting up early (3 or 4 am rather than the gentlemanly hours often kept) doesn’t mean aircraft should sit waiting while conditions deteriorate.

More aviation contracts over longer periods will provide essential stability for investment in equipment and people, but this must be coupled to a more strategic approach to managing the landscape.

Aircraft, like everything else in the firefighting toolbox, are not a silver bullet solution. But how many more national disasters do we have to have before governments get serious about helping people live safely in the Australian environment?

Convention 2009

Don’t forget the AAAA Convention at the Marriott Surfers Paradise on 2-3 June. Registration forms and program are on the AAAA website www.aerialag.com.au. The Convention will feature the usual high quality of speakers and a 30+ booth trade show.