Multi-agency firefighting the key to success
From the Spring/Summer 2009 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Cooperation on the fireground. Photo by Nick Westman
Forests NSW helicopter is often employed in cooperative firefighting campaigns. Photo by Sarah Chester
No man is an island and nor are firefighting agencies as they share a common responsibility across the landscape, says Forests NSW fire manager, Steve Bishop.
Cooperative firefighting is all about having a common goal - to work together to minimise the occurrence of wildfire, he says.
Forests NSW manages around 2.2 million hectares of land for which there are legal obligations in relation to the control of wildfire.
More importantly, Forests NSW has a business imperative to protect the $1.4 billion value of the states timber assets, as well as the associated industries that depend upon that resource.
Forests NSW is a declared fire authority under the NSW Rural Fires Act and has land management responsibilities under the NSW Forestry Act to control wildfires.
Other state fire authorities include the Rural Fire Service, NSW Fire Brigades and National Parks and Wildlife Service. These authorities are all members of the Bushfire Coordinating Committee and routinely interact throughout the year to work on fire management plans.
Steve is Forests NSW representative on the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Committee. It includes some 22 fire authorities in Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands, who work towards standardisation and cooperation in fire control.
Forests NSW is also a core member of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre that leads the way in national fire research.
In addition, Forests NSW is a signatory of the Australia-USA Agreement of the cooperative arrangements for sharing firefighting resources.
This interaction within the fire community ensures that Forests NSW has a say in developing national policy and in the exchange of information, Steve says.
Forests NSW actively assists other agencies in fire control as part of its commitments. For example, in the past year Forests NSW has attended numerous fires on private property and national park, deployed more than 200 firefighters to assist in the Victorian fire disaster on Black Saturday and sent staff to the USA to provide relief to firefighters in the Californian fires.
Forests NSW firefighters are considered very valuable contributors to the states ability to control wildfire as they provide speciality skills when working in large multi-agency emergencies, Steve says.
Our staff are familiar with working in steep, remote heavily-timbered country. And they are skilled in dangerous tree identification and safe removal. Plus forestry heavy machinery can quickly and efficiently construct fire breaks.
Forests NSW maintains a number of fire towers that provide protection for the timber resource and surrounding communities by detecting small fires that can be quickly extinguished before they become a large damaging fire.
Forests NSW is self-insured and its protection of timber assets is dependant upon a robust firefighting capability, which in extreme situations relies upon help from other firefighting agencies.
It is comforting for people to know that when our State forests and surrounding areas are threatened by fire, not only will Forests NSW respond, but other agencies will also be ready to assist, Steve says.
Forests NSW is certainly not an island, and this philosophy is very important when it comes to protecting the states extremely valuable timber resource.
Sarah Chester Public Affairs & Media, Albury
