Fed: More firefighting was needed in first 24 hrs of ACT blazes

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Fed: More firefighting was needed in first 24 hrs of ACT blazes

By Sharon Mathieson

CANBERRA, Aug 4 AAP - A firestorm that devastated Canberra may have been avoided iffires sparked by a lightning strike had been fought more aggressively within the first24 hours, an inquiry into the blazes found today.

Four people died and 506 homes were destroyed when the firestorm ripped through thenational capital on January 18, 10 days after the blazes started in Namadgi National Park.

"The inquiry is of the view that the fires, started by lightning strikes, might havebeen contained had they been attacked more aggressively in the 24 or so hours after theybroke," the report said.

The inquiry, headed by former commonwealth ombudsman Ron McLeod, quashed claims thefirestorm was a one-in-100 year event and warned there would always be a fire risk inthe ACT.

Mr McLeod said the conditions of January 18 - very high temperatures, strong winds,high fuel loads, low humidity and extreme dryness as a result of the drought - createda fire environment of exceedingly high intensity.

"The inquiry considers, however, that there was a chance to extinguish the fires ifthe opportunity to put them out in the first 36 to 48 hours after the lightning strikeshad been grasped more vigorously," Mr McLeod said.

"The ACT fire authorities are criticised for not coming to this realisation quicklyenough and for failing to immediately attack the fires with all the aggression they couldmuster.

"Had this occurred - while the inquiry is not in a position to conclude unequivocallythat it would have made a difference in the absence of the fullest response that was potentiallyavailable - the doubt remains that the fires that originated in the ACT could have beenstopped."

Mr McLeod found there were inadequacies in the physical construction and layout ofCanberra's Emergency Services Bureau which led to major problems.

"The centre was unable to handle efficiently the large amount of data and communicationstraffic into and out of the centre at the height of the crisis," he said.

"It is the inquiry's view that during the course of the fires the poor facilities andoperational command arrangements at the Curtin centre appeared to result in an excessivefocus on tactical decision making - at the expense, sometimes, of a broader strategicapproach."

Mr McLeod said information provided to the public regarding the fires was seriously inadequate.

He called for a major program of community education to help residents understand howbetter to protect themselves.

"Canberra is - and always will be - prone to occasional serious bushfire attack andthe realisation of this needs to pervade the psyche of the city, its inhabitants, andthose who govern it," he said.

The inquiry found emergency service personnel performed credibly but were overwhelmedby the intensity of the fires and their unexpected speed.

Mr McLeod praised the work of hundreds of of people who contributed to fighting thefires and dealing with their aftermath.

He said with an improved and strengthened bushfire capacity, as outlined in his 61recommendations, the ACT would be better able to deal with future bushfires.

AAP sm/sw/was/de

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES ACT FINDING LEAD