AN AVENUE Range farmer has renewed calls for mobile phone reception in blackspots following the devastating Keilira fire which destroyed at least three houses and killed thousands of livestock.
Just months after making a powerful plea for better phone service in rural areas after her partner was crushed by a hay truck, Lucy McCourt-Pearce has again urged governments and telecommunications providers to install a phone tower in the rural locality.
Ms McCourt-Pearce, whose farm was affected by Monday’s Keilira blaze, said the rapid spread of the fire demonstrated the importance of mobile coverage in the area.
“On the day the fire started, the wind was changing like crazy,” she said.
“We left our property because the fire was coming south.
“In situations like this, everything can change so quickly and if you are travelling on those roads, it is so important to have mobile service in case things get out of control.
“Until we get service, this problem is not going to go away, there are going to be more accidents and there are going to be lives lost.”
Country Fire Service (CFS) rapid assessment teams are still assessing the Keilira fire ground to determine the total loss of stock and property from Monday’s fire.
Started by dry lightening on Monday morning, the fire burned through 24,750 hectares in extreme fire conditions between Kingston and Padthaway.
A bushfire advice message is still in place for the area as CFS volunteers continue to strengthen containment lines and monitor the fireground.
Much of the dense terrain is still inaccessible, making it difficult for the rapid assessment team to determine the total impact of the fire.
Ms McCourt-Pearce raised concerns about motorists travelling along the Riddoch or Princes highways and using rural roads such as Rowney Road West – which runs straight through Keilira – who may be caught in extreme conditions.
During the blaze, a CFS warning was issued to avoid the area between Kingston and Padthaway and access to roads were blocked.
While Ms McCourt-Pearce had a satellite phone and a battery-operated radio to access updates, she said mobile phone coverage was essential for motorists travelling to the coast.
“There are a lot of people coming from the Bordertown direction use Rowney Road to go to Kingston and Robe,” she said
“It is not a back track – it is busy road, especially during the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period.
“Pretty much everyone will experience a black spot along that road.
“We have satellite phones, but people who are travelling along more than likely do not and why should they?
“I could understand if we were in the middle of nowhere and did not have a town nearby, but we are only 35km out of Kingston which is not a small town anyway.”
The young farmer said more than 13,000 people had signed her online petition since launching it on November 27, which calls on the Federal Government and Telstra to install a phone tower in rural areas.
But Ms McCourt-Pearce said she has been contacted by just one Federal politician – Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick – as well as MacKillop MP Nick McBride.
“Senator Patrick is coming down in a couple of weeks and wants to meet with us to discuss the issue, but I feel as if the petition is not being properly acknowledge by the people who should be,” she said.
“It is now at a point where people are talking about pooling together and buying our own phone tower for the area.
“It should not come down to something like that, but if it does, I would want everyone to know nobody helped us do it – we funded it ourselves.”
“The residents are sick of it and we do not want to wait until someone dies until action is taken on this.”
