Diana Rickard – Friday 6 May 2011

I've been reading your articles on fire with interest, Frank. I suppose you'd call me a 'Greenie' - meaning it to be derogatory.

Having an environmental science and law background, I'm very careful in my analyses of fire management. I don't call myself a conservationist because to conserve is to preserve what is established. I follow a more adaptive principle that accepts diversity and change as a natural process. If this makes me a Greenie - so be it. If I accepted a more integrated label, I'd say I was an ecologist.

Having seen you in action as a firefighter, I believe that you also follow a principled stance and respect the essential nature of forests as entities rather than as resources. The Kakadu fire project went beyond the 3-5 year burning regime. It said that vine and rain forests shouldn't be burned. This also means that the closed savanna woodlands that border rainforests should not be subjected to fire within a 5-7 year period. Dave Bowman has also been a critic of over-zealous firelighters. I recommend a zero-alcohol policy for those on call as fire brigade volunteers as well as a mandatory course on fire psychology.

You've also met my mate, Greg Chapman - also a Greenie. He wanted to join a brigade but was banned by the Captain. I was an active volunteer (2 stripes) until the brigade was taken over by firelighters to the detriment of firefighters and the Bush. Greg was home when the big fire came through a few years ago. I was working interstate. We maintain our firebreaks and keep African grasses off the property. We slash the speargrass bordering firebreaks. Other low-lying native grasses dominate open areas within our bush block without causing a fire hazard. Our Bush has not recovered well from its last hot burn (caused, I understand, by someone's misuse of a power tool). This causes us continuing grief.

I and Greg appreciate that there are dedicated volunteers trying to do the right thing for the Bush as well as landholders. It also scares the shit out us when our neighbours want to burn 20 acres of mission and/or gamba grass and someone in authority in the Bushfires NT hierarchy gives the go-ahead. 'Best thing for it' was how this dedication to fire was verbalised by more than one vollie and paid worker. Like you, it disgusts me that the weeds people haven't the resources or government backing to police and control this.

You say that the fire-stick is used on three sides - not four - but this method still destroys nests and smaller creatures needing grass and low shrubs for habitat. If 'greenies' appear to have no tolerance for firelighting, it's because the fine rhetoric or theory of what is to be done is not followed through in practice by - maybe - a minority of vollies and paid Bushfire NT workers. As with so many things, the immoral outbreaks of a minority viewpoint put into practice cause irrevocable damage - in this case to our valuable savanna ecosystems.

In conclusion, Frank, there has been very little evidence of early strategic burns around here so far this year. I would have thought that the past month after the rain was ideal for mosaic burning. When the winds come up and the days hot up, out come the fire-sticks. Same every year. 'Best thing for it, best thing for it'!

I look forward to your critical and reflective feedback on my concerns. Perhaps with some community cooperation and support, we can live in harmony with the Bush and really protect it as land for wildlife.

Frank Dunstan – Friday 6 May 2011

Under our common Constitution a person wishing to join a Volunteer Bushfire Brigade needs to be nominated by two members and then be voted in by the Committee at their next meeting. The Captain has one vote in these decisions and a casting vote if it is tied. A Captain may wield a lot of influence, but must abide by a decision of the Committee.

There is no requirement that you must join your local Brigade and many people are members of neighbouring Brigades for various reasons. Also, the Captain you named (in the original text) who allegedly blocked your mate's enrolment has been gone for a few years now. Has Greg tried again to join that particular Brigade?

I won’t state it in full, but Chief Fire Control Officer’s Standing Order CFCOSO 10 prohibits the consumption of alcohol or drugs by BFNT personnel (including volunteers) engaged in any BFNT function or task. It further states that turnout crews are to be selected from individuals not affected by alcohol or drugs.

It doesn’t disgust me ‘that the weeds people haven't the resources or government backing to police and control this’, but I am concerned. This last wet season I spent many days spraying gamba grass along road verges and in crown lands in my area, all the while knowing that they are only going to be reinfested from adjoining properties where little or no action is taken to control this environmental disaster.

As I type this, the bottom of my block is still submerged with water flowing in from higher ground. I don’t know which particular crown lands around here have been designated for burning this year, but my local knowledge of the area tells me that some would have water problems similar to my own. The spear grasses have died and cured and burn readily, even across flooded areas. Volunteer Brigades cannot responsibly light up before the land dries out sufficiently to put in suitable fire breaks to confine the prescribed burn without menacing the whole neighbourhood. Last year there were similar problems caused by heavy rains in May and many crown lands on the list weren’t burnt at all, or were left until the early wet season when it was safe to do so. Someone who was once a deputy captain (two stripes) should know these things.

One large crown land block at Berry Springs was burnt last year in a hot destructive fire, but this was lit by an arsonist – who was seen and reported to BFNT – and defensively back burnt by volunteer bushfire fighters and BFNT staff after an initial direct flank attack was considered too hazardous to fire fighter safety.

Volunteer fire fighters get a lot of criticism for "inappropriate burning" during the later bushfire season. I have been the target of verbal abuse on more than one occasion while back burning to a wildfire from a main road. The abuse is usually from a moving vehicle to the general effect of, "Effing firies, burning in this weather". If people would stop and ask what is happening they would get an informative answer. Unfortunately, some people adopt a confrontational approach and are met with resentment from hot, tired firies. Others make assumptions based on their prejudices without bothering to check the facts. All they have to do is ask - civilly.

If you see us out "when the winds come up and the days hot up" it is usually because we are fighting a wildfire and "out come the fire-sticks" when it is necessary to light up a back burn to an approaching fire front, fighting fire with fire. The nature of the terrain and bush and our lack of resources is such that we have become quite proficient at this method of fire fighting and have been acknowledged by other fire agencies as probably the best in Australia at back burning. It is also less damaging to vehicles and safer for our fire fighters than scrub bashing in a direct attack. Someone who was once a deputy captain (two stripes) should know these things.

I admit that in the past we have had Captains who were irresponsible with their burning, but they have either retired or moved on to other pursuits and hopefully their like will never be seen again.

We're not perfect and do make mistakes, and I had a lot of personal problems with the culture and common practices in place when I started as a volunteer firie, but I have seen a lot of improvements since then. The grog culture is outlawed and burning practices have changed for the better. This has been brought about by training to nationally accredited standards, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) and CFCOSO's. Aggressive confrontation just gets peoples' backs up, whereas education has positive results.

We still have a way to go, but we are striving for continual self improvement through training and learning from our mistakes to do things better the next time. Debriefing sessions after incidents are just one part of this process.

Diana, you seem to be ill informed and out of touch with the modern reality of bushfire management and the operations of Volunteer Bushfire Brigades. You may consider contacting the Bushfires NT Training Officer about doing one of our training courses so that you can be brought up to date and give informed constructive criticism without dragging up people and practices of times gone by.

By the way ... what you call a "fire stick" is really called a drip torch. We call it a "bug", taken from a brand name. I just thought that someone who was once a deputy captain (two stripes) should know that.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

I have had some feedback about this page and one correspondent asked why I didn't address the concern raised about Permits to Burn. The simple answer is that I'm not a Fire Warden, don't have a Permit book and any answer I give would be hypothetical, but here goes anyway.

When a Permit is refused the applicant must be given reasons for that refusal in writing and may appeal that decision to a higher authority. I think that a stated reason that it frightens the neighbours would be overturned and the person issued a Permit. However, this is assumption as I'm not a Warden.

A person intending to burn their property is required to give all adjoining land holders 48 hours notice of that intention. If you believe that a Permit has been given inappropriately and places you at risk you should contact your local Regional Fire Control Officer (RFCO) to state your concerns. In this case you should ring BFNT Batchelor Regional Headquarters.