Bushfire warning system fails first test

Victoria's bushfire warning system has failed its first major test since Black
Saturday, with the website that relays vital alerts to residents crashing.
As Victoria endured its worst fire day so far this summer, at risk communities
relying on the Country Fire Authority (CFA) website for advice were left in the
dark.
The CFA has blamed technical faults by a service provider for the glitch, which
resulted in the page that displays warning messages crashing.
It has promised a full investigation but it is little comfort for residents in fire
prone areas who spent the day on tenterhooks as the mercury soared to 40 degrees
celsius in some parts of the state.
Mt Clear resident, Jeanette, is sandwiched between state forest and bushland in
central Victoria.
Eight months pregnant and with a three-year-old son at home, she was relying on the
website to keep her family safe.
"I am really disappointed. I thought after Black Saturday, the CFA would have got it
right by now. We rely on them for emergency information to save our lives," Jeanette
said.
The CFA has launched a full investigation but said community safety was not
compromised.
"The CFA website has been functioning all day. The site has not 'crashed' but the
feed of warning messages was interrupted," CFA chief executive Mick Bourke said in a
statement.
He said technical faults with one of the CFA's service providers forced it to revert
to issuing fire warnings manually.
Victorian Police Minister Bob Cameron said websites could not be solely relied on
and urged people in bushfire prone areas to get out or listen to the radio.
"The best source of information is by radio, but also what we do encourage with
people is not to be in those areas on those days if that is their fire plan."
An extreme fire warning was issued for the Wimmera and Western District regions on
Wednesday.
A total fire ban was declared across the state, except for Gippsland, as the
temperature topped 40 degrees in northern Victoria, with strong winds.
The CFA responded to 119 fires, none of which provided major concerns. The largest
was a 30-hectare blaze at Apsley, in the far west, that destroyed two old hay sheds.
"There's been a real effort to get fires out quickly before they start and to date
that's been achieved," CFA deputy chief officer Steve Warrington said, adding that
the website failure was not acceptable.
"We're not happy about it, we're going to do a full investigation. It's just not
acceptable," he said.
A cool change is expected across the state on Wednesday night after a high of 40.5
in Walpeup in the state's northwest and 39 in Melbourne.
A total fire ban has been declared in the northeast district on Thursday, while
extreme fire ratings have been issued in the North Country and North East regions.