WA to establish Rural Fire Service

The Western Australia Government today said that it will support the recommendations of the Special Inquiry into the January 2016 Waroona Fire, including the implementation of a Rural Fire Service.

It will also establish a new Office of Emergency Management.

The inquiry, led by Euan Ferguson AFSM, made 17 recommendations. The report was tabled in State Parliament on 23 June 2016.

“Mr Ferguson has recommended the establishment of a Rural Fire Service and emphasises the importance of local knowledge and experience in fighting bushfires in his report,” said Premier Colin Barnett.

“The state’s volunteer firefighters do a magnificent job and their expertise in fighting bushfires needs to be better utilised.

“The state government will establish a Rural Fire Service as either a separate agency or subdepartment of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).

“Consultation will take place with relevant agencies such as the Department of Parks and Wildlife, DFES, local government, volunteer firefighters and the United Firefighters Unions of WA to investigate the best model.”

Emergency Services Minister Joe Francis said that implementation of many of the recommendations had already begun ahead of this year’s bushfire season.

“Western Australia has suffered terrifying and catastrophic fires in recent years and we will do everything we can to respond accordingly,” Francis said.

“The state government also supported in principle all 23 agency opportunities for improvement identified by Mr Ferguson.”

Many of the recommendations are being implemented ahead of the upcoming bushfire season, including:

• establishing five multi-agency incident management teams for level 3 incidents, which include representation from both government and volunteers;
• installing automated vehicle location systems in vehicles and appliances at a cost of $2.4 million;
• establishing a $2.8 million critical messaging system by November 2016 which will issue warnings and provide advice on fire danger ratings and total fire bans. The information will be available on a new Emergency WA website to be promoted through the ‘Are You Ready’ bushfire campaign.

A new Office of Emergency Management (OEM), comprising the State Emergency Management Committee Secretariat and the Office of Bushfire Risk Management, will also be established.

There would also be an independent review into the Emergency Services Levy.

“The new OEM will have a quality assurance role and report directly to the Minister for Emergency Services,” Francis said.

“From the public comments received in response to the Ferguson Report, the majority of stakeholders and community members were supportive of his recommendations.

“While the government is moving as quickly as possible to enact measures ahead of the bushfire season, structural recommendations will be developed in a considered way to ensure that, as a community, we are more resilient to emergencies in the future.”

Of the 142 public submissions in response to the Ferguson Report, 88% supported a Rural Fire Service.

Image courtesy DFES.