21 November 2008

There are lessons to be learnt from the handling of an Australian bushfire which trapped 11 New Zealand firefighters, injuring six of them, says New Zealand's top rural firefighter.
A report into the circumstances of the fire trap, obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, has revealed that bad management led to the Kiwi firefighters being caught in a wildfire flare-up near Mansfield in northeast Victoria on December 16, 2006.
ABC said the report showed the firefighters were working on a steep slope with the blaze below them and unburnt ground in between.
Athol Hodgson, a former chief fire officer of Australia's Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands, said the crew should never have been sent into the area.
'The people in charge of the situation knew the night before, in fact they knew the day before, that the fire had crossed Steiner's Road,' he said.
'They knew there was unburnt country below the road.'
Mr Hodgson said those managing the fire broke one of the most basic rules of firefighting.
'Firefighters around the world have died because they've been working uphill of an uncontrolled fire.'
But New Zealand National Rural Fire Officer Murray Dudfield today disputed Mr Hodgson's findings.
'That's his view. I don't know whether it's the view of the hosting agent over there,' he said
He said the New Zealand Fire Service acknowledged that a number of factors led to the predicament the men found themselves in.
'There are lessons to be learnt and we've taken them on board,' he said.
Systems in place for fighting extensive bushfires had been reviewed and training updated.
'The situation-awareness thing is not second or third or fourth on the list, it's number one.'
The six injured firemen have since recovered and returned to normal duties.