Fire chief grilled as shortcomings revealed
The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission has learned a fire spotter warned of the Marysville inferno three hours before the fatal fire swept through the town on February 7.
Andrew Willans told the royal commission he warned the Marysville Country Fire Authority (CFA) office at 3.30pm the town had to be evacuated after a “gut instinct” told him a wind change would turn the flank of the blaze into a new fire front.
He abandoned his tower, which was eventually destroyed, at 4.30pm. The fire swept through Marysville shortly after 6pm, killing 34 people.
CFA Chief Officer Russell Rees’ leadership came under attack at the royal commission as it was revealed he did not use predictive maps on Black Saturday and instead hand-drew the fires on a map and stuck it to the wall of his office.
The inquiry also heard from CFA Deputy Group Duty Officer David Copper, who says he was surprised to find out that a state-of-the-art incident control centre near the Kinglake Ranges had not been activated.
Instead, the centre, which was just 5km from the bushfire front, was ordered to “shadow” the fire and leave control of it to the Kilmore centre, which was 40km away and had serious staffing and communications problems.
US fire experts also gave evidence by video-link last week, telling the royal commission that even though mandatory bushfire evacuations in the US have caused chaos on roads, US fire chiefs see Australia’s “stay or go” policy as “irresponsible”.
Meanwhile, recovery teams working in Marysville reported last week the wreckage of the town has been almost completely cleared. Only 20 of the town’s 514 buildings survived the bushfire.
Andrew Willans told the royal commission he warned the Marysville Country Fire Authority (CFA) office at 3.30pm the town had to be evacuated after a “gut instinct” told him a wind change would turn the flank of the blaze into a new fire front.
He abandoned his tower, which was eventually destroyed, at 4.30pm. The fire swept through Marysville shortly after 6pm, killing 34 people.
CFA Chief Officer Russell Rees’ leadership came under attack at the royal commission as it was revealed he did not use predictive maps on Black Saturday and instead hand-drew the fires on a map and stuck it to the wall of his office.
The inquiry also heard from CFA Deputy Group Duty Officer David Copper, who says he was surprised to find out that a state-of-the-art incident control centre near the Kinglake Ranges had not been activated.
Instead, the centre, which was just 5km from the bushfire front, was ordered to “shadow” the fire and leave control of it to the Kilmore centre, which was 40km away and had serious staffing and communications problems.
US fire experts also gave evidence by video-link last week, telling the royal commission that even though mandatory bushfire evacuations in the US have caused chaos on roads, US fire chiefs see Australia’s “stay or go” policy as “irresponsible”.
Meanwhile, recovery teams working in Marysville reported last week the wreckage of the town has been almost completely cleared. Only 20 of the town’s 514 buildings survived the bushfire.