Marysville convoy saved dozens: hero cop

Many people evacuated in a convoy of cars as a firestorm bore down on Marysville on
Black Saturday would have died if they had stayed put, a local police officer says.
Leading Senior Constable Ken Dwight was hailed a hero for his part in helping
hundreds of Marysville residents get out of the Victorian town on February 7.
He told the bushfires royal commission on Tuesday he believed if people had remained
assembled on the oval, with no protection from radiant heat, many would have died.
"We would have lost a lot of people if we stayed there," he said.
"We had no fire trucks to protect us, no water."
Snr Const Dwight said it was likely panic would have set in as the fire front
approached.
"If there had been 50 cars there, at least 50 per cent of people would have got out
of their cars and started running around, and you would have lost them," he told the
commission.
Snr Const Dwight, the sole police officer in the town of Woods Point, had travelled
to Marysville on February 7 to assist local police.
When he arrived at the oval where an "enormous amount" of cars were gathered, the
fire was already burning in the crown of the trees surrounding the oval.
He said the cars moved out of Marysville in an orderly fashion but sped up on the
road to Alexandra.
Commissioner Susan Pascoe asked Snr Const Dwight if he had considered the danger
which could have been caused by falling trees blocking the path of the convoy.
Snr Const Dwight, who is also a Country Fire Authority volunteer with 20 years
experience, said trees fell down all the time in rural areas.
"If there's a tree down, you move it, don't let it stop you," he said.
"When you have got a fire coming up your back, you'll do anything.
"If I only saved 10 people out of 100, there's 10 people we still have."
Snr Const Dwight could face disciplinary action for breaching police protocol by
making his submission to the commission.
Earlier, counsel assisting the commission Rachel Doyle said more than 10,000 calls
went to the Victorian bushfire information line on February 7 but 82 per cent were
not answered.
She said emergency call centre staff faced an impossible task to respond to
thousands of calls from distressed Victorians about the fires on Black Saturday.
Only 28 people were taking emergency calls dispatched from the triple zero service
on February 7.
Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) operations manager Owen
Kiernan said his organisation needed more work stations, greater funding, a larger
centre and more staff to cope with such a large volume of calls.
About 3,300 emergency calls to fire services were taken by ESTA operators on
February 7.
It was the busiest day on record for the service, with 94 per cent more calls
recorded than the second busiest day, which was January 22, 2006, the inquiry was
told.
Some CFA volunteers were surprised to receive triple zero emergency calls which had
been redirected to their homes.
ESTA chief Neil Foster said those calls were redirected under a plan to connect
callers with emergency services during periods of high call activity.