Many of our colleagues have stood side by side with their communities and agencies under extreme conditions, in an early start to the season.
 

Photo credit: DFES

Areas across the State have faced a range of bushfire threats over the past week. The metropolitan area experienced heat-wave conditions followed by the weekend of 15 and 16 December which saw WA experience 65 Level 1, one Level 2, and one Level 3 bushfire. Local Governments are to be congratulated for encouraging community preparedness prior to the fires, and for their response and communication during these emergencies.
 
The City of Wanneroo and Shire of Gingin were affected by the Level 3 bushfire, and with these fires they have undertaken their emergency management responsibilities, including assistance with evacuation centres, communications to affected residents, business owners and other stakeholders, attendance at many of the incident management meetings and recovery coordination. 

The Shire of Gingin maintained communication with residents via their Facebook Page, doing a great job of passing on information and public messages. Here is one example below: 

 

Given the early start to the bushfire season, all Local Governments are encouraged to consider the following actions to prepare themselves for the season ahead:

   

These amendments aim to address concerns raised by EM stakeholders during the review.

The State is now seeking feedback on the proposed amendments to help highlight and address any significant concerns prior to requesting endorsement from the Response Capability Subcommittee and approval from SEMC. Please view the amendments and provide feedback by Friday, 28 February 2020 on Social Pinpoint. 

The consultation is being hosted on Social Pinpoint, a new platform, which is being trialled to assist with the broad consultation of the State EM documents. The State EM Policy Team would also appreciate any feedback on the use of this platform and the setup of the consultation webpage.  

The Department of Health activated the State Hazard Plan (SHP) Heatwave for the Perth metropolitan area on Thursday, 9 December, based on forecast temperatures for the week ahead. In the Perth metropolitan area, the heatwave trigger is defined as a three-day average temperature (3DAT) calculation of 32 degrees Celsius or above. This 3DAT calculation is based on both daily maximum and minimum temperatures over a forward looking three-day prediction.

Measures as part of the activation included:

External agencies were also required to fulfill certain actions, including:

By Monday, 16 December the temperature forecast was more favourable and conditions for heatwave had subsided. The SHP Heatwave transitioned to Stand Down phase and agencies and Health Service Providers were advised to stand down internal heatwave plans. 

As the heatwave activation was a Level 1 incident, a full debrief did not occur. Feedback was welcomed by the SHICC. 

The latest round of the Mitigation Activity Fund – Emergency Services Levy Grants program sees three Perth metropolitan councils awarded almost $1.4 million to help reduce bushfire risks in their communities. 

Premier, Mark McGowan MLA addressing guests on Monday, 9 December.
 

Representatives from the Murray and Peel business sectors, State and volunteer emergency services, local Bindjareb community and State and Local Government agencies joined BCoE staff to celebrate the occasion. 

Among attendees was Premier, Mark McGowan MLA; Minister for Emergency Services, Hon. Francis Logan MLA and Member for Murray-Wellington, Mrs. Robyn Clarke MLA. 

The event followed on from the first training courses being delivered at the BCoE interim facility the week prior. 

Fire spread prediction and simulation training using Aurora was delivered on Thursday, 5 December. The course aimed to enhance the capability of DFES and Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) staff who recently completed Fire Behaviour Analyst (FBAn) training.  

A refresher FBAn workshop and training session was delivered the following day to prepare participants for the bushfire season. The day was also an opportunity for the group to share learnings from recent deployments to New South Wales and workshop future FBAn capabilities.

Aurora Bushfire Spread Simulator training.

Applications are now open for not-for-profit sporting or community groups to access discounted defibrillator packages for public community use. 

We thank you for all your support this year, and look forward to continued collaboration in 2020.