CFA 'should advise homeowners to go'

Victoria's Country Fire Authority (CFA) has been told to toughen up its
controversial "stay or go" policy by spelling out to people the safest option during
a fire is always to leave or they risk death.
The CFA should continue to advise people to decide whether to leave early or stay
and defend their property in the event of fire but should emphasise people need to
be well-prepared before a fire hits.
The interim report by the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, handed down on
Monday, said not all homes were defendable in a fire and the safest option for the
CFA to advocate was to leave.
Children should not be part of any plans to defend a property, the commission's
interim report into the February 7 bushfires said.
"It is a task for those who are physically fit and mentally strong. It is not a
place for children, older people or the infirm," the report said.
"For those who choose to stay and defend, the risks should be spelt out more
plainly, including the risk of death."
However, the interim report by commissioners Bernard Teague, Susan Pascoe and Ron
McLeod stopped short of recommending mandatory evacuations.
This was despite the fact 113 of the 173 people who died on Black Saturday were
sheltering in houses.
Instead, it suggested people should relocate at the recommendation of CFA or
Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) officers.
But the firefighters union said referring to evacuations as relocations was
"ludicrous".
"We're extremely disappointed. We're the only country in the world that has a policy
that does not mandate evacuation," United Firefighters Union national secretary
Peter Marshall told reporters after the report was tabled.
"It is ludicrous. We haven't learned from our failings or loss of life that we've seen.
"Evacuation is evacuation, not relocation."
The 51 recommendations contained in Monday's report included that the Victorian
government identify "neighbourhood safer places" where people can seek refuge during
fires.
The CFA should then prioritise defending those refuges, the report said.
Victorian Premier John Brumby foreshadowed that recommendation last month when he
announced work would get underway to identify "safer places".
Monday's interim report suggested the CFA's chief officer should have legislated
responsibility for issuing warnings to the public.
CFA Chief Officer Russell Rees, who was recently re-appointed to the top job, came
under intense scrutiny during the royal commission hearing when he gave evidence
that his role on Black Saturday was not an operational one in relation to warnings.
Changes to the structure of CFA command in incident control centres was also
recommended.
The report highlighted the gross failures in communication on Black Saturday that
meant many people were warned too late or not at all, while emergency triple-zero
call systems could not cope.
"Warnings were often delayed which meant that many people were not warned at all or
the amount of time they had to respond to the warnings was much less than it should
have been," the report said.
Many warnings were confusing, the report found. It recommended future advice be
clear and focused on maximising the potential to save lives.
Warnings should include information about the fire's severity, location, predicted
direction and the likely time of impact.
Research should also be commissioned to develop a fire severity scale, similar to
the cyclone categories 1-5, the interim report recommended.
Guidelines should also be developed for the use of fire station sirens to alert
communities to the threat of bushfires.
David McGahy, CFA captain of the Arthurs Creek/Strathewen brigade said sirens would
suit some small communities but not others spread over larger areas.
Mr McGahy said he opposed authorities compelling people to evacuate.
But he conceded decisions by people who decided to stay and defend in his community
on Black Saturday were disastrous and he welcomed the clarification on the "stay or
go" policy.
"I knew that our residents were all going to stay. That turned out with hindsight to
be a total disaster because we lost 15 to 18 per cent of our population," he told
AAP.
"In that case, it was a disaster those people staying."
The CFA has been asked to train staff to assess the defensibility of individual houses.
The advice to people in indefensible areas should be to leave, the report said.
The commission's final report is due next July.