Major emergencies have a long tail – so support those fighting the fires in NSW

I’ve been in Sydney on several occasions over the past few weeks – every time I’ve been there, the weather has been hot.

Being from Melbourne, that’s been enjoyable, despite the challenges it poses to carry-on luggage adequately accommodating the different climates.

I’ve caught up with friends and sat in Hyde Park on balmy evenings enjoying the good food at the Night Noodle Market, and I’ve been able to finally use an outdoor pool at a hotel.

 

I was in Sydney last Thursday when the raging NSW bushfires started to take hold up in the Blue Mountains and surrounding areas.

 

Stuck inside with air-conditioning at a conference all day, I was too busy with work to even go outside and look up at the sky. Some other colleagues managed to, and what they saw was the hot talk of the table at dinner that night.

 

What I missed was an eerily and devilishly red sky above the harbour, beautiful and intriguing to some, but in reality, a direct result of something far more sinister and dangerous happening not that far away.

 

Though disappointed I missed it, even if I had seen it, it would have been purely voyeuristic, as I was jumping on a plane and leaving town to head home to safety the next morning anyway.

 

The following day’s papers, even back in Melbourne, carried front page headlines such as “Hellfire” – the red sky the previous night was nothing to admire.

 

What is to admire, however, is those thrust into the midst of working through these large-scale emergencies.

 

I have seen their work– their tireless and tough work – up close, and it is something those of us not directly affected should all appreciate, and something that those requiring their help will never forget.

 

I was a Ministerial adviser in the Victorian Brumby Government when the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires hit, killing 173 people. It was all hands on deck to get out and help communities in any way possible during the days, and all the seats at the office table were filled as support and recovery plans were built throughout the evenings.

 

I saw all of our emergency services working hard together at fire fronts, volunteers at community halls helping house those displaced from their homes by fire. I saw the Army working to help rebuild burnt out communities and I saw the nerve centres that managed resources to fight ongoing fires and fire threats.

Then in the aftermath as an adviser working specifically on emergency services and bushfire response, I saw the long tail of dealing with a Royal Commission, creating new legislation to improve fire safety, to rebuild entire communities and to help keep people safe.

 

In 2013, four years later, my involvement continues, working with the country’s largest Class Actions law firm at Maurice Blackburn, seeking compensation for those that lost and suffered because of the Kinglake and Marysville fires.

 

Today in NSW the winds are reported to be hitting extreme speeds of up to 100kph in the Blue Mountains and other parts of the state – the RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has indicated that his firefighters are battling 60 fires, 22 of which are uncontained, with three at emergency level.

 

For those dealing with a major event, such as the brave emergency services teams and the authorities that work tirelessly to put in place the support networks to deal with the fallout, there’s no quick fix and there’s no easy exit from these situations.

 

It’s tough work and it’s tiring work for all involved, but it’s some of the most important work the people involved will ever do.

 

My experience tells me that these emergencies and those involved don’t just come and go. So I take my hat off to all those working on the NSW fires emergency, because while the work required might peak during the height of the disaster, it doesn’t just jump on a plane and go away any time soon.