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Topic 4
STAGE 3 TEACHER RESOURCE
A NSW National Parks firefighter manages a hazard reduction burn at night
There are 4 main frontline fire fighting authorities in NSW. Each one of these organisations plays a different role, working together with local communities to manage bushfires.
At the end of this topic, students will be able to:
Identify and describe the role of the 4 main fire fighting authorities and other key groups in NSW
explain how NSW National Parks manages bushfires in NSW national parks and reserves
give examples of fire management techniques and equipment used by NSW National Parks to manage and respond to bushfires
explain how Aboriginal cultural bushfire management practices are implemented to minimise the impacts of bushfires in national parks.
Who are the main fire authorities?
Who are the main fire authorities?
There are 4 fire fighting authorities involved in bushfire management for NSW, recognised under the Rural Fires Act 1997:
NSW Rural Fire Service
Fire and Rescue NSW
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Forestry Corporation NSW.
Together with other key groups and organisations, they form the Bushfire Coordinating Committee (BFCC), which is responsible for advising the NSW RFS Commissioner on fire prevention planning and coordinating firefighting resources.
The BFCC is chaired by the NSW RFS Commissioner and in addition to the fire authorities, it includes representatives from organisations such as: NSW Police, NSW Aboriginal Land Council, NSW Farmers’ Association, Local Government, Crown Lands and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
Fire authorities often work together sharing information and resources.
The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is the lead combat agency in NSW. They are the world’s largest volunteer fire service, with members providing emergency services to approximately 95% of NSW.
The NSW RFS, works closely with the other recognised bushfire authorities to reduce the likelihood and consequences of bushfires occurring. This happens through activities such as risk management planning, developing regulations for bushfire-prone areas and responding to bushfires.
Fire and Rescue NSW are responsible mainly for protecting our homes and other buildings in urban areas. You might have a local fire station near you and have seen the fire trucks returning there. But they also play a big part in helping RFS during and after fires in bushland areas
Fire and Rescue NSW works as part of the BFCC to prevent the occurrence of bushfires through bushfire reduction strategies and community education programs.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is part of the Department of Planning, and Environment and has the largest professional bushfire fighting force in NSW. We are responsible for managing fire on national parks and reserves and we work cooperatively with the Rural Fire Service to manage bushfires in NSW. NSW National Parks manages more than 10 per cent of the land area in NSW, which is over 7.5 million hectares across more than 890 national parks and reserves.
As part of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NPWS Act 1974), NSW National Parks is responsible for protecting and conserving natural and cultural heritage values in NSW national parks and reserves. Managing the risk and impact of bushfires in parks and reserves also forms part of our responsibilities under the NPWS Act.
Through collaboration with other members of the BFCC, we coordinate resources to maximise the effectiveness of our bushfire response. We conduct reviews and debriefs after every major bushfire to ensure lessons are learned and policies updated accordingly. This gets captured in the current version of the Fire Management Manual, a document that details the policies and procedures for NPWS bushfire management.
Forestry Corporation NSW is responsible for managing bushfires in around two million hectares of native and plantation forests, as part of the state’s combined firefighting efforts.
The Forestry Corporation’s statutory obligations for fire management arise from the Forestry Act 2012 and the Rural Fires Act 1997. They have a team of qualified personnel which include field-based firefighters as well as office-based incident management team members. Some of their roles can include specialist skills such as fire tower personnel that monitor for smoke and relay information to on-ground crews and incident management teams to bushfire behaviour analysts who predict what a bush fire may do like its predicted direction and speed.
The Forestry Corporation NSW also participates in several Bushfire Management Committees (BFMCs) throughout NSW and aids in the preparation of risk management plans as well as bushfire fighting activities.
Who else is involved?
Who else is involved?
In addition to the 4 main fire authorities, a number of other organisations are also involved in bushfire management. Some of these groups contribute to bushfire coordination by being a part of their local Bush Fire Management Committee.
The BFCC appoints and guides Bushfire Management Committees (BFMCs) for all bushfire-prone areas.
A variety of members sit on BFMCs to ensure the whole community can provide input. This includes landholders, land managers, bushfire authorities and community organisations.
BFMCs also:
manage community involvement in the creation of Bushfire Risk Management Plans
make sure the BFCC is sensitive to the issues important to their community
prepare, coordinate, review and monitor the Plan of Operations and Bushfire Risk Management Plan for their area
help with bushfire detection, mitigation, control and suppression efforts.
WaterNSW is the state-owned corporation operating the river and water supply systems of NSW.
WaterNSW jointly manages more than 9,500 square kilometres of forested catchments, in partnership with NSW National Parks. These areas are called Special Areas. Special Areas protect water quality by creating a buffer zone of bushland around dams and in catchment areas.
WaterNSW provides information to the BFCC in order to manage the impacts of bushfires in Special Areas.
The NSW Police Force helps develop the fire prevention plans that help keep communities safe.
During bushfire seasons, they form strike forces to investigate and target people who start bushfires on purpose. When a bushfire is deliberately lit, it is known as ‘arson’. The people who do it are known as ‘arsonists’.
Once a bushfire has passed, the NSW Police Force takes the lead in conducting investigations and prosecuting arsonists. The outcome of these investigations is then used to inform future planning.
NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES) is an emergency and rescue service dedicated to helping the community. They are a volunteer-based organisation whose major responsibilities are for flood and storm emergencies. They support bushfire prevention and management efforts across the state. NSW SES also conducts the majority of general rescues in rural parts of the state, including:
road accident rescues
vertical rescues
bushland search and rescues.
Additionally, the NSW SES performs evidence searches as required to support the work of other agencies during major bushfires.
The NSW Ambulance service provides high-quality mobile emergency care throughout NSW. During a bushfire, demand for their services increases.
To make sure they can respond to these needs, they establish a dedicated State Ambulance Recovery Team for any significant bushfire. During the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20, for example, this team worked continuously with fire-affected communities over six months to help rebuild damaged infrastructure. A separate Bushfire State Incident Management team was also created.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSW ALC) oversees the network of 120 Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs) that represent the many Aboriginal communities across NSW.
In late 2020, the BFCC created positions for representatives from these groups – including a member of the NSW LALC, a traditional owner and a cultural burning expert. This significant development makes sure the Aboriginal community has input into bushfire management strategies and priorities, including cultural burns for hazard reduction.
NSW National Parks: Policies and planning
NSW National Parks: Policies and planning
Primary bushfire management objectives for NSW national parks include:
protecting life and property, both within parks and on immediately adjacent land
protecting and conserving natural, cultural, scenic and recreational features
cooperating with other organisations in planning and implementing fire management strategies.
To meet these objectives we have a number of resources on hand to guide and inform our approach.
NPWS' Bushfire Management Program supports work to improve the way we manage fire and respond to bushfires.
The program:
uses a strategic approach to plan hazard reduction operations
provides dedicated rapid aerial response teams (RARTs) in strategic locations
promotes partnerships between the key agencies and stakeholders
contributes to an enhanced bushfire research program.
This strategy details the state-wide bushfire management approach, guiding the development of bushfire management plans and techniques.
It aims to make sure NSW National Parks works alongside all relevant government agencies, our communities and national park neighbours to minimise bushfire threats. Through this collaboration we can focus our efforts where they count the most, and strengthen firefighting resources and skills for quick and effective bushfire responses.
Updated annually, this manual outlines policies and procedures for all bushfire management planning and operations on parks and reserves, as per the NPWS Act 1974.
This manual also applies to any land NSW National Parks manages on behalf of the Minister for the Environment.
NSW National Parks consults with all key bushfire management groups to develop fire management strategies for individual parks and reserves. These are formal documents prepared in line with:
a park or reserve’s plan of management
policies and procedures set out in the Fire Management Manual.
The strategy for each park or reserve includes identification of important assets in communities as well as methods to protect wildlife. Detailed environmental impact assessments, that consider impacts on native wildlife, vegetation and cultural heritage, form part of these strategies as well.
Plans of Management (PoMs) are legal documents NSW National Parks develops and maintains, as a requirement under the NPWS Act 1974. PoMs contain information about the natural environment, Aboriginal heritage and recreational opportunities in a national park or reserve.
These documents also provide guidance on how to sustainably manage parks through conservation efforts, rehabilitating landscapes and protecting natural and cultural heritage sites.
The purpose of the Cultural Fire Management Policy is to support Aboriginal community aspirations to connect to and care for Country through cultural fire management in parks and reserves. NSW National Parks recognises the importance of working with Aboriginal communities to manage our parks and reserves. And that Aboriginal people's use of fire is important to enhance and protect natural and cultural values. We are committed to partnering with Aboriginal people to undertake culturally informed burning and community (low risk) cultural burning in parks and reserves. Read more in the Aboriginal cultural bushfire management practices factsheet.
NSW National Parks: Staff and training
NSW National Parks: Staff and training
NSW National Parks employs around 1200 trained and experienced firefighters to protect lives, property and the natural environment from bushfires.
To support the policies and procedures outlined above, NSW National Parks invests time and resources into staff training, hazard reduction burns, community alerts and rapid response firefighting crews.
Hazard reduction burns
Carefully planned hazard reduction burns reduce the risks of bushfires in national parks.
NSW National Parks manages the amount of hazard reduction burns in NSW under the guidance of the Bushfire Management Program. We coordinate hazard reduction burns through collaboration with the other key bushfire authorities.
Hazard reduction burns involves lighting controlled, low-intensity fires to reduce the amount of fuel (such as dead leaves and plants) on the ground. These low-intensity burns are done in the cooler months of Spring and Autumn.
NSW National Parks conducts a number of strategic hazard reduction burns each year
Female firefighters are involved at every level of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service's fire operations
Women in fire
As of 2016, around 95 per cent of firefighters in Australia were males. Firefighting agencies have recognised the need to break down the barriers stopping women from entering the fire services and work towards correcting the imbalance
In August 2019, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service undertook a historic all-female hazard reduction burn at Scheyville National Park in Northwest Sydney. The hazard reduction burn was the first time NPWS has undertaken an all-female burn and highlights the growing numbers of women in firefighting roles. The all-female team comprised NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue NSW staff.
It is worth noting that as of 2022, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has an approximate 50 per cent gender equality split across the agency (in all roles), yet female firefighters make up only 23 per cent of the firefighting team. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is committed to increasing the gender balance of firefighters to align with the rest of the agency.
Girls on fire
In 2016 Bronnie Mackintosh, a Station Officer with Fire and Rescue NSW, started 'Girls on Fire'. This initiative brought together multiple agencies including the Australian Fire Authorities Council, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Rural Fire Service and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service – to name a few. The organisation runs camps to train and support girls and young women, to try and encourage them into the firefighting and the emergency service sector.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service first all-female hazard reduction burn in Scheyville National Park
NSW National Parks: Managing bushfires
NSW National Parks: Managing bushfires
Fire danger rating signs help alert the community to the potential level of danger, should a bushfire start. The ratings are based on weather conditions and the dryness of the landscape.
Community alerts
Community alerts
NSW National Parks clearly communicates alerts and closures to the community through the NSW National Parks Alerts webpage and on-park signage.
This page contains up-to-date information on bushfires in parks, floods, park and track closures as well as other management events.
Fire bans, planned hazard reduction burns and park closures are put into effect only after careful risk assessment by park managers. They are in place for public safety, and penalties apply to anyone not following them.
Rapid response bushfire firefighting crews
Rapid response bushfire firefighting crews
NSW National Parks firefighters respond to bushfires quickly to get them under control as quickly as possible.
We use different equipment and bushfire management techniques to do this, including a 4WD vehicle loaded with 500 litres of water. We also have a helicopter that has a giant bucket attached to it so it can pour water on bushfires from above. In remote regions where there isn’t much water, we use dry firefighting techniques such as scraping the ground to create ‘fire breaks’ to stop bushfires from spreading.
Learn more about our firefighting equipment and techniques in the NSW National Parks firefighting factsheet.
Park Air helicopters help teams reach remote bushfires quickly
Drones are now an essential piece of the NSW National Parks firefighting toolkit
Digital equipment
Digital equipment
NSW National Parks also uses digital equipment such as lightening detection systems and infrared cameras to detect bushfire ‘hotspots’. We use drones to gather information about bushfire behaviour and conduct night-time operations with firefighting teams.
Learn more about how NSW National Parks uses drones to manage bushfires in the managing bushfires with drones factsheet.
Activities
Activities
Bushfire management role play
Using the scenario provided and role play techniques, understand the different jobs of the four main bushfire authorities in the event of a bushfire.
NSW National Parks bushfire management techniques poster
Create a poster with photos and information to describe a bushfire management technique.
Role play an interview with a NSW National Parks firefighter
In pairs, plan and role play an interview with a NPWS firefighter to show how bushfires are managed in NSW National Parks.
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