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DSE preparing for fire season

Preparations for the coming fire season are well under way in the Gippsland region by Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) staff.

By Department of Sustainability and Environment - 15th October 2003 - Back to News

Training of staff, both experienced and new takes place all year round, but with emphasis at this time of year on aircraft training, Project Firefighters and joint Incident Control training with the CFA.

In planning ahead for fire situations, DSE produces a Regional Fire Protection Plan, which defines fire protection objectives and strategies for the region. The four main strategies are: wildfire prevention, wildfire preparedness, wildfire suppression and wildfire recovery.

The fire protection strategies and practices to be adopted are those that best meet both the fire protection objectives and the principles of environmental care for public land within the Gippsland region.

The purpose of the plan is to ensure that proper and sufficient works for the prevention and suppression of wildfire on public land are undertaken within Gippsland. The plan is developed in consultation with the CFA, local municipalities, other agencies that have a major interest in fire protection and with the community. Public interest and input to this plan has been considerable this year.

This plan, together with the Fire Operations Plan is developed with advice from planning specialists involved in flora, fauna, parks, forestry, land and water protection. Both plans aim to complement the detailed land management strategies set out in park and forest land management plans. The three-year Fire Operations Plan is available for public inspection prior to spring each year.

John McDonald, DSE Regional Fire Planning Officer for Gippsland, said that in planning ahead for fire, the Department's training program also helps prepare staff for certain roles in fire situations.

"We all come together as a specialist team and everyone is aware of each others' roles in that incident,"

Mr McDonald said.

"For instance, the particular training that's on at the moment is our Incident Control System training, some of which we're doing jointly with the CFA as so often we are required to work together in a fire, so it makes sense to do our training together."

The Incident Control System was first used in Chicago in the 1980s for riot control and has been developed to be used in any emergency response situation, such as Ground Zero after the Twin Towers collapsed and the search for the disintegrated space shuttle earlier this year.

This system has been used for many years in Australia, America and New Zealand for wildfire incidents and means that firefighters from those countries are easily able to assist each other.

" It allows people to move inter-state or overseas and fit into a team very quickly as they are operating under the same set of roles and responsibilities," Mr McDonald said.

In Gippsland, DSE is hoping to recruit and train nearly 200 additional firefighters as Project Firefighters. They will undergo three weeks of intensive training and assessment in firefighting, four wheel driving, chainsaw operations and first aid before they can attend a fire.

"Past firefighters also have refresher training to hone their old skills as well as reinforce any lessons learnt from the various debriefs that have occurred since last fire season," Mr McDonald said.

"Of course, as well as our firefighters, there are also support roles away from the fireground that require training and include Logistics Officers, Resources Officers, Information Officers, timekeepers and so on."

All these personnel are vital to DSE's preparedness for the fire season and training is an important aspect of ensuring that all departmental and CFA staff are up to date with the specific knowledge they require for their roles in a fire situation.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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