Fighting fire
with ... education
By Vanessa McQuarrie
Everyone remembers the bushfires that ravaged greater Sydney in the
summer of 1994. Footage of the devastation was beamed across the world,
while Sydneysiders watched the skyline turn red. Tragically, lives were
lost and homes destroyed.
When fires hit in 2001, 2002 and again in 2003, people living in bushfire-prone areas were prepared thanks to the NSW Fire Brigade's Community Fire Unit (CFU) program.
"A lot of those fires were in the same area and under the same, if not worse, conditions as the 1994 fires," says CFU state manager Terry Munsey. Yet no firefighters or members of the community lost their lives and the damage to property was reduced. Indeed, the preparedness of CFU teams meant the firefighters could move on to other fire scenes faster than ever.
The CFU program was established as a result of the 1994–95 fires. "We looked at some shortfalls, not in our response but in our ability to meet the community's expectations during that situation, and we devised an education and empowerment program that evolved into the Community Fire Unit program," he explains.
Since then, 315 CFU teams comprising about 5,700 volunteers have been founded. Most are in the urban Sydney area, though teams are in places as far north as Tweed Heads, south as Albury and west as Cobar.
CFU teams comprise 6 to 12 local residents. Their main goal is to safeguard their homes during a bushfire until the emergency services arrive. "We aren't training the people in the program to fight fires … and we don't place the same expectations on our CFU volunteers as we do on our volunteer firefighters," Terry is quick to point out. "We're giving them [the know-how] to protect their property prior to the arrival of the fire brigade."
In
extreme conditions when the number of fires means the Brigade has run
out of available fire engines, CFU volunteers have the resilience
to stay longer with their homes while they wait for a unit. In this respect,
being a CFU volunteer is dangerous, as members have made the conscious
decision to stay in place longer than the fire brigade would expect the
public to do so. "They have to fend for themselves in circumstances where
we may otherwise order an evacuation," he says.
Of course, this is the 'worst case scenario'. Much of the focus of the CFU program is community education. The strategy well and truly paid off in 2001-03, as exemplified by the reduction in 000 calls after dark. In 1994, when darkness fell and people could see embers still burning, they called the fire brigade, not knowing that the fires weren't going to spread (because everything was already burnt). This didn't happen in 2001–03, because the community knew more about fire behaviour.
The success of the program led the ACT Fire Brigade to establish its own pilot two years ago. The territory now has 29 community fire units.
All NSW volunteers attend 16–20 hours training a year and are expected to provide an ongoing commitment. "Ninety-nine percent of people are happy to continue that commitment."
There are no age or other restrictions on CFU membership. During training, team members are assigned roles according to their capabilities. "Some people will be physically able, because of their strength, age and size, to be on the end of a hose, and others won't." However there are many roles and each member plays a significant part.
Terry says the Brigade is always looking for more volunteers, and is constantly assessing and improving the program, too. This year, CFU members will be helping to educate the community about smoke alarms, as new legislation is coming into force in May.
Find out more about NSW
Community Fire Units.
To volunteer, contact your local
NSW fire station.
Find out more about Community
Fire Units in the ACT.
The Centre
for Volunteering [ABN 28 002 416 024]
Level 2, 228 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000
T: 02 9261 3600 | F: 02 9261 4033 | E: info@volunteering.com.au
www.volunteering.com.au