Recent fires at Millicent and Mount Muirhead have prompted one veteran volunteer firefighter to reflect on the resources needed to combat such blazes.
Phil Richards has served the community for around 40 years in various roles and is currently the Millicent CFS Brigade captain and an aerial air attack supervisor.
“With some ‘close to home’ fires recently there has been a massive increase in community interaction and interest,” Mr Richards said.
“The normal mix of compliments and advice have flowed in abundance.
“The realities are fire is a complex, rapidly moving, dangerous beast and managing resources to tackle it are equivalently complex and demanding.
“It requires high levels of communication, easy access to properties, tight cooperation with other services and people, lots of people.
“The dynamics of fires put considerable pressure on those given the task of managing them.”
According to Mr Richards, the CFS has variable levels of experience and capability.
“The ability to manage high loads of complexity, maintain a calm demeanour and be technically capable is critical,” he said.
“An important part of any rural fire fight is the involvement of farm fire fighter units (FFUs).
“When fires spot, the ability to deal with multiple points of ignition is vastly enhanced with say six 500lt FFU versus one 3000lt fire appliance.
“As it is with CFS resources, safety and coordination is critical for FFUs.
“The CFS has made considerable efforts over time to assist farmers with identification and guidelines around the use of FFUs.
“The uptake has been quite variable across the South East Region.
“The other side is where there have been higher levels of uptake of FFUs around the state, there has been equivalent drops in membership for the CFS.
“The difficulty here is that FFUs are fine for the Fire Danger Season but if CFS membership is compromised, exactly who is going to turn up to put your house out when it catches alight in June or cut you out of a crashed vehicle?
“The Bottom Line?
“The CFS must be supported and all fire ground resources need to operate safely and have a clear understanding of how they are to be coordinated in the fire fight.
“With the absence of some larger fires in our own backyard in recent years, the fires at Millicent and Mount Muirhead in recent weeks offer a perfect opportunity to address these issues now, striking while the iron is hot.
“Be part of the solution.”
Meanwhile, a motorhome and carport were destroyed in an early morning fire in Mount Gambier on Saturday.
Three MFS crews responded to Tawarri Crescent about 2.20am after reports of a motorhome under a carport well involved in flames.
The 12 firefighters managed to contain the blaze to the carport, however the motorhome and the carport were destroyed.
The quick action stopped the fire spreading to the adjacent home, saving the property.
The home’s occupants had evacuated prior to the MFS arriving, with no injuries reported.
The cause of the fire was determined to be an accidental electrical issue, with damage estimated at $100,000.
