By Callum Ludwig
Fire season draws nearer with each passing day, but for Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) the preparation for the next fire season starts as soon as the last one ends.
It comes as the Victorian Government announced $21.7 million to create 100 ongoing and 54 fixed-term Forest Fire Operations Officer positions on 13 October, on top of the 550 seasonal firefighters appointed for the upcoming season.
Director of Forest and Fire Operations at DEECA, which oversees FFMVic, Tamara Beckett said they have been working all year round to undertake bushfire preparation work.
“We are really well prepared, along with our partners, for a potential earlier start to the season though the last couple of weeks of rainfall might have given us a bit of breathing room,” she said.
“We’ve still got an El Niño forecast, meaning that we’re anticipating a dry and warmer spring and summer, particularly in comparison to previous years, which everybody would be aware have been wetter and cooler than average and certainly not really severe summers.”
The recent recruitment drive has built a force of 1800 FFMVic personnel including more than 62,800 people in fire and emergency roles in Victoria this year.
Ms Beckett said it has bolstered their numbers significantly.
“FFMVic has over 300 firefighters across the Greater Melbourne area, including in the dedicated crews in the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges at Powelltown, Gembrook, Olinda and Woori Yallock,” she said.
“The government’s recent investment has enabled us to put on a hundred new full-time firefighters and we’ve got our usual seasonal staff who’ve in the majority just started this week as well.”
Over the three months from 1 July to 30 September of this year, FFMVic firefighters responded to 142 fires, with the 10-year average for the same period at 148.
In recent times, residents may have noticed planned burns at Toolangi and Gembrook, patriot of fuel reduction efforts while weather conditions were suitable.
Ms Beckett said in the last 12 months, they have conducted six planned burns in the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges.
“It’s really critical to enable us to have fuel-reduced areas which help us to manage fires better and have strategic areas where we can respond,” she said.
“We don’t just undertake fuel management through burning, we also have a whole range of mechanical works like mowing, mulching and removing hazardous trees to make sure we’ve got safe access in key areas for our firefighters and maintaining strategic fuel breaks.”
For more information on how you can prepare yourself, visit www.emergency.vic.gov.au/prepare.
Ms Beckett said it’s absolutely critical that private landholders and property owners can do their part in preparing their property.
“Making sure that they’re considering what their bushfire plan is and how to get information on how to protect their property, how to prepare it, making sure they’ve got the plan in place,” she said.
“Also staying up to date on emergency information and warnings, know what the channels are to look for those and listen for those, and consider things like fire danger ratings and the forecast are all really key things for community members to do.”
