‘Military-style’ water-bombing forms part of bushfire inquiry recommendations
The NSW Government accepts all 76 bushfire inquiry recommendations. Photo: AAP
Landowners across NSW will be obliged to conduct more hazard-reduction burns on their properties and take an active role in bushfire preparation after the NSW government accepted all 76 recommendations of an independent bushfire inquiry.
A trial will also be conducted of first-response aerial firefighting, which involves water bombers being deployed ahead of firefighters to reduce the intensity of blazes.
The “military-style” water-bombing tactics, updating equipment, training and mental health support for firefighters and buy more water-bombing aircraft form part of the recommendations.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday the release of the report was “timely”.
“There are some risks we can definitely mitigate but we also need the community support and help and while we also remember the loved ones that were lost, the three local firefighters and the overseas firefighters that were lost and the family is still going through pain and anguish.
“The release of this report is timely – we know our job is not done in recovering and rebuilding in the aftermath of those horrific bushfires,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday.
“We think of those who experienced the trauma and pain every day, and those who are still in recovery mode, recovering from that horrific bushfire season.”
“We also have to remember the thousands of lives saved, the thousands of properties saved … that is what the recommendations of this report now give us the power to do in a forceful, vigilant and quick way,” she said.
In January, the NSW government established the inquiry amid an unprecedented bushfire season in which 25 people died, almost 2500 homes were razed, more than 5.5 million hectares were burned and billions of animals perished.
The inquiry leads, Professor Mary O’Kane and Dave Owens, handed the report to the NSW government in late July and it was published on Tuesday.
Read the full report here.
Ms Berejiklian also admitted climate change had played a major role in the summer’s fires, with authorities seeing things “they have never seen before in decades of firefighting”.
Among other recommendations are the establishment of a bushfire research facility in NSW and the creation of a bushfire-fighting technology fund.
The government has also been advised to commission research into the efficacy of cattle grazing on vegetation as a hazard-reduction technique and to implement a police on injured wildlife, including guidance for firefighters on handling animals.
Emergency Services Minister David Elliott told reporters the government had already tipped an additional $45 million into the state’s firefighting response for the upcoming season, while the Rural Fire Service NSW had purchased 120 new fire trucks.
He said he would enact further reforms ahead of this year’s fire season if necessary and had six weeks to determine the rollout of the 76 inquiry recommendations, with some requiring the consent of federal government and others already in place.
The government was open to purchasing more water-bombing aircraft.
“Aviation has come of age when it comes to firefighting,” Mr Elliott said.
“What we have seen in NSW is that we’ve embraced it – when we talk about military tactics, that’s all about making sure aviation assets can fly over a fireground quickly, early, with a maximum amount of retardant and water to drop.”
-with AAP