COUNTRY Fire Service regional commander John Probert has described the conditions last summer as the worst anyone has seen, but warned they could occur again.
His warning follows the release of the review into the devastating 2019/20 summer South Australian bushfires, which claimed no level of hazard reduction could have prevented the fires.
Experiencing the conditions first hand, Mr Probert supported the finding, highlighting the lack of respite during the evening hours.
“Usually throughout the night we experience respite, that did not occur last fire season during these intense blazes,” he said.
“The conditions we saw were unprecedented, but this is our new world, our new climate and unfortunately we can have those same conditions again.”
The review compiled 15 recommendations that should be undertaken to improve the capability of emergency services during the bushfire season.
Mr Probert said it was important to enact those recommendations, however conceded the COVID-19 made it problematic.
“We welcome these reviews and reports and we try to learn from them and enact as much as possible, as quickly as possible, but COVID-19 has made that a challenge,” he said.
“Our emergency response will not change, but it certainly adds another layer to our role.
“We had some contingency plans in place in terms of training and developed a system where our volunteers could still undertake that training despite the restrictions.”
It has now been six months since South Australia was declared bushfire-safe by the CFS following the summer’s devastating bushfires and work continues to rebuild communities and wildlife affected by the fires.
Department for Environment and Water conservation and wildlife director Lisien Loan said the fires burnt nearly 300,000 hectares of land across South Australia, affecting thousands of native plants and animals.
“On February 6, 2020, the state was declared bushfire-safe by the CFS and six months on we have got a lot to be proud of with our bushfire response efforts,” Ms Loan said.
“The bushfires saw a large amount of the natural environment in South Australia destroyed resulting in significant wildlife losses and heart-breaking images of injured animals.
“The wildlife and habitat recovery after the devastating bushfires and has been a collaborative endeavour with all levels of government as well as local experts and non-government organisations delivering help in a coordinated way.”
Despite the highly-publicised fires last season, Mr Probert said volunteer numbers had remained steady in 2020, with 30 new recruits taking the region’s total to 1928.
“We did not really see an increase, the new volunteers essentially replaced those we lost to retirement,” he said.
“We have been able to get them to do their basic firefighter training and they are qualified to be deployed this upcoming fire season.”
A large group of CFS volunteers recently underwent basic firefighting training in Millicent delivered by state and regional training officers.
Indicating the fire season could start earlier this year, Mr Probert said people needed to prepare their properties and bushfire action plans as a matter of urgency.
“We cannot put a fire truck at every property, so you need to have a well-prepared property and have a practiced bushfire action plan in place,” he said.
“The whole family needs to be involved and everyone should know exactly what they need to do on fire ban days.”
