Fire Australia Magazine | Issue 1 2022

ISSUE ONE 2022

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CONTENT SAFETY IS NOT JUST A FACE MASK If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that the world is full of uncertainty. Two years of ever-changing government policies have made it very difficult Acting CEO for everybody to plan for working, socialising or even taking trips to the shops.

FPA Australia The population has been conditioned to see safety measures as requirements, rather than recommendations, and will occasionally react adversely if they think someone else is putting them at risk. So how does this reconcile with a general lackadaisical attitude towards fire safety? Why are building owners and managers happy to cut corners on fire safety maintenance, but ready to pounce on anyone who isn’t masked or hasn’t used the QR code? Both are required by governments, and both are meant to ensure the ongoing safety of building occupants, and yet there’s an apparent double standard at play.

I can only guess that the out-of-sight, out-of-mind nature of fire protection means that clients don’t consider compliance with those statutory responsibilities as important as ones that are being enforced vigorously by a pandemic-obsessed populace.

When Greater Sydney went into lockdown, this lack of focus on regular maintenance came to the fore when the new rules prohibited people from entering residential buildings—including technicians who service fire safety systems.

In other words, to protect the residents who were forced to stay at home, the government overlooked the increased risks of not maintaining the systems that would keep them safe from fire.

Lobbying by FPA Australia helped to overturn the restriction, and fire protection was included once again as an essential service, but for a few weeks there was significant uncertainty for our industry.

There was no malice in the decision—it was simply an oversight—but it does point to a clear issue that fire safety is not necessarily front of mind for decision-makers.

FPA Australia is resolved to improve the profile of fire protection.

Over the next year, we will be carrying out a range of activities that will help to increase the community consciousness of fire safety and of the importance of carrying out maintenance and service work.

While we aren’t ready to share our plans just yet, our goal is to demonstrate the value and importance of fire safety and its role in protecting the community.

Ours is an essential service for the community—now we need to help the public to recognise it.

IN THIS ISSUE

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ADVERTISING LISTING 2 5 9 13 21 26 31

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33 POWER EQUIPMENT 35 REDMEN 39 TAFE NSW 41 AUSTRALIS 51 FIRE AUSTRALIA 2022 52 WINDSOR

To advertise in Fire Australia, contact: Paul Waterhouse, magazine@fpaa.com.au FPA Australia, PO Box 1049, Box Hill VIC 3128, Australia

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14 A profile of FPA Australia’s new CEO 15 AFAC appoints a new CEO 16 New Strategic Directions for fire and emergency services 18 Fire Australia 2022 is coming!

20 Australia’s first firefighter sprinkler training facility for standalone housing goes live 22 Introducing Natural Hazards Research Australia 24 Margaret River fire reveals the power of nature 28 Can fire resistance and sustainability coexist?

30 Australian first: national Large Air Tanker 32 Bushfire insights uncovered with new fire-atmosphere modelling 34 Reaching out: FPA Australia’s plans for 2022 36 Reconnect and reflect: Lessons Management Forum returns 38 Progressing an inclusive culture in the fire and emergency sector 40 Stories of cultural burning in southern Australia 44 AFAC contributing to international standards on behalf of the sector

REGULAR FEATURES

38 OUR COVER

Building sustainability is a worthwhile goal, but it can’t come at the expense of safety.

4 News 42 Q&A: perspectives from the sector 45 Standards update 46 Burning ambition: championing and celebrating women’s roles in fire and emergency 47 Blast from the past 48 Readers’ Corner 49 Calendar 50 Movers and shakers

PHOTO: 123RF

ABOUT FIRE AUSTRALIA Fire Australia is a joint publication of Fire Protection Association Australia and AFAC. We aim to bring the latest news, developments and technical information to the fire protection industry, fire and emergency services organisations, and hazard and emergency management agencies. Fire Australia is produced quarterly and distributed throughout Australia and New Zealand. Editorial submissions and letters to the editor are welcome and can be sent to: magazine@fpaa.com.au.

For more details on submitting a contribution, please contact the editors.

JOINT EDITORS PAUL WATERHOUSE (FPA Australia) Tel +61 3 8892 3133 paul.waterhouse@fpaa.com.au ALANA BEITZ (AFAC) Tel +61 3 9418 5233

alana.beitz@afac.com.au

Fire Australia magazine is printed by a printer with ISO14001 Environmental Management System Accreditation using vegetable-based inks onto FSC -certified paper.

ISSN 1032-6529 (Print) ISSN 2200-9221 (Online)

DISCLAIMER The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of FPA Australia or AFAC. Articles and advertisements are published in good faith but Fire Australia magazine and its agents do not warrant the accuracy or currency of any information or data contained herein. Fire Australia magazine and its agents do not accept any responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the material in this publication. It is not possible for FPA Australia to ensure that advertisements published in this magazine comply in all respects with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and the provisions which apply to advertising. Responsibility lies with the person, company or agency submitting the advertisement for publication. Material in Fire Australia magazine is subject to copyright. This publication may not be reproduced in printed or electronic form without permission. Contact +61 3 8892 3131.

ISSUE ONE 2022

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NEWS

President and Chair of the AFAC Board: “The commitment of our fire and emergency services across Australia and New Zealand is something to be proud of. Working together is one of our great strengths, and I’m delighted to take on this role to help guide our collective effort and strategic direction.”

Commissioner Baxter is stepping down from the AFAC Board after nine years, and five years as AFAC President. “Commissioner York’s appointment reflects the integration of SES into AFAC and our priority on diversity and inclusion. The past few years have shown us that we need to be ready for anything, and Commissioner York’s appointment represents the cultural shift required to meet the challenges of the future,” he said.

Former AFAC CEO Stuart Ellis said, “I am very grateful for the support and guidance from Commissioner Baxter during his time as AFAC President.

Commissioner York’s appointment begins an exciting new chapter for fire and emergency services in Australia and New Zealand and her leadership will be a significant asset to the AFAC National Council.”

Commissioner York was voted in

NEW PRESIDENT AND BOARD FOR FPA AUSTRALIA

director Yvonne Pengilly.

Ms Pengilly is a former Assistant Commissioner Technical and Board member at the Queensland Building and Construction Commission and has extensive, and relevant, board experience.

The Board expressed its appreciation for Mr Lea and Ms Fazio, who have worked tirelessly in the interests of the fire protection sector and community safety.

Mr Lea, in particular, has been heavily involved in creating a sustainable future for the industry, especially through the reforms in NSW and the introduction of mandatory accreditation.

The new Board takes over at a time of significant regulatory reform and increasing competition for skilled workers.

At the FPA Australia annual general meeting (AGM) in November 2021, President Bill Lea and Director Elissa Fazio retired from the FPA Australia Board after 12 and three years’ service, respectively.

The new Board met straight after the AGM and elected Bob Grieve as President and Patrick Conway as Vice-President.

Remaining on the Board are Rob Broadhead, Patrick Conway, Bob Grieve and Russell Porteous, who are joined by newly elected directors Michael Donegan and Mark Potter; co-opted previous directors John Lynch and Stuart Yarnall; and new co-opted 4

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as AFAC President at the AFAC National Council meeting on 27 October 2021. The AFAC National Council comprises 34 members representing fire, emergency and land management agencies across Australia and New Zealand.

It will continue the work of FPA Australia to improve member engagement, increase activity, deliver accreditation and training, and raise the profile of the Association.

FPA Australia thanks Mr Lea and Ms Fazio for their service and looks forward to delivering for our members with the new Board.

PHOTO: FPA AUSTRALIA

AFAC has appointed NSW State Emergency Service (SES) Commissioner Carlene York APM as AFAC President and Chair of the AFAC Board.

Commissioner York is the tenth president of AFAC, and both the first SES Commissioner and the first woman to hold the position.

She replaces Paul Baxter QSO, Commissioner Fire and Rescue NSW, who has held the AFAC presidency for five years.

As the inaugural SES Commissioner to preside over AFAC, Commissioner York’s appointment reflects the contributions of SES organisations to the AFAC National Council.

Commissioner York’s appointment as the first female AFAC president supports the continuing effort to address gender balance and support women in leadership roles across a traditionally male-dominated sector.

As the severity and frequency of hazard events increases with a changing climate, inviting a diversity of experience, thinking and capability will better equip the sector with the skills needed to adapt to this future.

Commissioner York said it was an honour to be voted in as AFAC

PHOTO: NSW SES

CARLENE YORK: FIRST SES COMMISSIONER, FIRST FEMALE APPOINTED AS AFAC PRESIDENT

Commissioner Carlene York APM, AFAC President and Chair of the AFAC Board.

Bob Grieve, FPA Australia President.

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NEWS

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AFAC DIRECTOR STANDARDS AND STRATEGIC PROCUREMENT RUSSELL SHEPHARD AFSM TO RETIRE On 9 December 2021 it was formally announced that Russell Shephard AFSM, AFAC Director Standards and Strategic Procurement, had made the decision to retire in June 2022. His retirement will conclude a highly distinguished and dedicated career spanning 45 years of service to Australia as a (former) firefighter, executive leader and respected standards influencer.

Mr Shephard was appointed Manager Standards for AFAC in 2007, following a distinguished 30-year career in the ACT Fire and Rescue Service, in both operational roles and managing logistics support. This saw him increase AFAC’s involvement and influence in the development of international and Australian standards, with AFAC today considered a lead contributor on behalf of the fire and emergency services sector.

In his 15-year tenure at AFAC, Mr Shephard has been involved in operational reviews; provided consultancy to AFAC Members on matters of procurement, personal protective equipment (PPE), fleet and 6

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operational equipment; and, most significantly, established a strong network of technical experts who represent AFAC at the Standards Australia level. He has overseen the industry’s significant growth in standards engagement.

“My role as AFAC Director Standards and Strategic Procurement requires me to incorporate extensive knowledge with respect to the fire and emergency services industry, in particular testing, with the compliance and certification of PPE,” he said.

“I assist with the development of specifications and associated tender documents for a range of PPE used by fire and emergency service personnel.”

His legacy includes: establishing the Collaboration Purchasing Initiative to facilitate procurement among AFAC Member agencies and reduce duplication in research, development and testing through the formation and implementation of targeted Technical Committees lobbying for greater industry involvement in providing technical

expertise in the development and review of Standards being an active member on five Australian and six international PPE-related committees, including being appointed Chairman of three Australian and International Organization for Standardization committees, and serving as a member of the National Fire Protection Agency Correlating Committee for PPE for Fire and Emergency Services winning the prestigious WR Hebblewhite Medal—2015 Standards Awards in recognition of his exceptional and dedicated contributions in standardisation nationally and internationally.

Former AFAC CEO Stuart Ellis AM thanked him for his work, saying, “Russell has made a huge contribution in a number of ways, including his Deputy Chair role on the public safety Industry Training Advisory Body committee and his career at ACT Fire and Rescue as a firefighter. He does a huge amount of work many of us aren’t even aware of.”

AFAC Director Standards and Strategic Procurement as Master of Ceremonies at the 2019 National Memorial Service.

NEWS

FPA Australia is publishing its revised and amended Technical Specifications for residential sprinklers.

The updated Technical Specifications—the FPAA101D revision and FPAA101H amendment— have been through the preliminary steps for consideration for the National Construction Code (NCC).

However, confirmation of its successful inclusion will not come through until NCC 2022 is finalised, which includes approval of all referenced documents.

So, to avoid any further delay, FPA Australia has decided to publish them now.

This will give industry the opportunity to apply the updated residential sprinkler Technical Specifications through performance solutions instead.

The current editions of the Technical Specifications will continue to apply under the deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the NCC until NCC 2022 is released.

NSW GOVERNMENT SHIFTS FIRE PROVISIONS TO NEW EP&A REGULATION The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has moved to simplify the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 by taking provisions for building regulation and certification out of the current regulation and moving them into the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021.

The new regulation, which commenced on 1 January 2022, contains most of the fire safety provisions in the regulations, including those relating to fire safety certificates and fire safety statements.

The remainder of the old Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 has been incorporated into the new Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021.

FPA Australia has analysed the new regulation and explained what specific changes have been introduced. That analysis can be found at http://www.fpaa.com.au/media/ 332659/epanda_regulation.pdf.

Clause-by-clause changes to the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 can be found at https://tinyurl.com/4vxba2v3.

Clause-by-clause changes to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021, which starts on 1 March 2022, can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3zc3vkyy.

PHOTO: STORYBLOCKS

UPDATED TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR RESIDENTIAL SPRINKLERS AVAILABLE NOW

To purchase a copy of the new Technical Specifications, visit http://www.fpaa.com.au/ technical/technical-specifications.aspx.

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NEWS AUSTRALIAN WARNING SYSTEM: KNOW THE SIGNS Australians will be better able to understand what to do when they receive a bushfire warning message this summer, thanks to a new national education campaign.

Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator Bridget McKenzie, said that thanks to hard work by the states and territories, a national warning system will alert the community of bushfires and other natural hazards.

“What we saw during the Black Summer bushfires was that there was a lack of understanding of what action to take depending on the warning,” Minister McKenzie said.

“The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements recommended that there be a national education campaign to improve public understanding of the warning system.”

“The Australian Government is investing $2 M in the ‘Know the Signs’ campaign to educate the community about the Australian Warning System, including what to do to stay safe during a bushfire.”

STAY UP TO DATE WITH AFAC DOCTRINE AFAC develops doctrine to support the practice of emergency management.

The information in doctrine publications is evidence-based and drawn from academic research and the collective expert knowledge of AFAC Members.

Doctrine is regularly reviewed and represents the official view of the AFAC National Council and sector leaders.

New doctrine endorsed by the AFAC National Council are now available: National community safety announcements for flood risk communication This procedural guideline presents nationally agreed and evidence-based 8

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The three national warning categories are: Advice (yellow): An incident has started. There is no immediate danger. Stay up to date in case the situation changes.

Watch and Act (orange): There is a heightened level of threat.

Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family.

Emergency Warning (red): The highest level of warning. You may be in danger and need to take action immediately. Any delay now puts your life at risk.

“The campaign will ensure that we all have a clear understanding of what we need to do when we receive a warning message, regardless of where we’re living, working or holidaying.

This will potentially save lives,” Senator McKenzie said.

The Executive Director of the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, Amanda Leck, said social research found that most people don’t understand or have not taken appropriate action under the hazard warning system in their state or territory.

“Fire and emergency service agencies across the country have come together to establish the Australian Warning System, which aims to provide simple, high-level warnings to help Australians make the most appropriate decisions for their safety during a range of emergencies and disasters.

“The ‘Know the Signs’ campaign complements the work being done by hazard management agencies in each state and territory to embed the Australian Warning System into their operations, including training, technology platforms and communications.”

The Australian Warning System is in the process of being implemented across floods, storms, cyclones, extreme heat and severe weather events, providing consistent symbols and calls to action to help the community with their decisionmaking across a range of hazardous conditions.

key messages that are designed to provide communities with information and advice about protective actions they can take when impacted by flood water. The messages can be adapted for community service announcements for Australian broadcasters to play during emergencies and disasters.

enterprise RTOs in applying recognition of prior learning processes.

Guide to recognition of prior learning for fire and emergency services organisations AFAC Members are enterprise registered training organisations (RTO) that operate under the Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015.

As such, they are responsible for the delivery and assessment of vocational education and training to the fire and emergency services workforce. This fundamental guideline highlights some approaches being taken by fire and emergency services

For more information, visit www.knowledge.aidr.org.au/ resources/australian-warning-system.

The campaign will ensure that we all have a clear understanding of what we need to do when we receive a warning message, regardless of where we’re living, working or holidaying. This will potentially save lives.

– Bridget McKenzie

Use of personal fire shelters in wildfires The new version of this fundamental position affirms that the use of personal fire shelters as a means of self-protection of firefighters in Australasia is not recommended in favour of other more proactive safety systems.

Use of lookouts, awareness, communications, escape routes, safety zones system for safety on the fireground The scope of this fundamental position is to support a simplified memory aid for fire survival.

All AFAC Doctrine is available to view and download online, at www.afac.com.au/insight/doctrine.

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NEWS PHOTO: 123RF

BLACK DOG INSTITUTE’S BUSH FIRE SUPPORT SERVICE

To support the mental health of Australia’s emergency service workers and their families, the Black Dog Institute has developed the Bush Fire Support Service. The service has been designed to complement existing health services, ensuring that trauma-informed mental health support is available Australia-wide.

It provides emergency service workers and their families access to a range of support services. There is an online mental health check-up, which is a quick and confidential way to assess how they are feeling, designed with

evidence-based insights to confidently measure symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The service also provides oneon-one psychological mental health care sessions free of charge via Telehealth, which can be accessed by visiting the website or by completing the assessment. Regardless of geographical location, emergency service workers and their families will have access to some of Australia’s leading PTSD and stress clinics.

To ensure a local safety net in

communities across Australia, GPs in bushfire-affected areas are receiving accredited professional development in the latest mental health evidence.

This will provide the opportunity for emergency service workers to connect, talk about and seek help for mental health distress with their local healthcare professional and access streamlined referral to specialist mental health care.

EPA RELEASES FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT PFAS

demonstration purposes came into effect on 1 April 2021.

The next phase begins on 26 September 2022, when the Regulation will restrict: the use of PFAS firefighting foam from a portable fire extinguisher the use of long-chain PFAS firefighting foam, unless by a relevant authority or exempt person, to prevent, extinguish or attempt to extinguish a fire that is catastrophic or is potentially catastrophic, or by a person to respond to a fire on a watercraft in relevant waters the sale of portable fire extinguishers containing PFAS to those who are

a relevant authority, the owner or master of a watercraft, or who have an exemption to use a portable fire extinguisher containing PFAS firefighting foam.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has published further guidance to help individuals and businesses prepare for and comply with the Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Amendment (PFAS Firefighting Foam) Regulation 2021.

A ban on the use of PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) firefighting foam for training or 10

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To learn more or get support, visit www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/bushfire-support-service.

The new guidance provides information on a range of topics in preparation for the upcoming restrictions. View it on the EPA’s website, https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/yourenvironment/contaminated-land/ regulation-of-pfas-firefighting-foams/ guidance.

Further questions should be directed to pfas.regulation@epa.nsw.gov.au.

PHOTO: AIDR

NEWS

VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 2022 The Volunteer Leadership Program (VLP) equips volunteers from community organisations, not-for-profits, disaster relief organisations and local governments within the emergency management sector with the skills and confidence to grow as leaders.

The VLP experience is immersive and collaborative, bringing together volunteers from different organisations and agencies to build knowledge and share experiences with each other. The program explores practical leadership frameworks through interactive learning, and participants gain both self-awareness and an enhanced ability to understand and contribute to their organisations.

The VLP is delivered by

experienced Australian Red Cross facilitators, on behalf of the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience.

Dates and locations for the 2022 VLP are now available.

FIRE PROTECTION COURSE UPDATES IN LINE WITH PROPERTY SERVICES TRAINING PACKAGE

applies to fire protection technicians responsible for non-trade installation, commissioning and complex servicing of fire protection systems or for the supervision of fire protection services work.

Presently FPA Australia has set units for the qualification and, as the year progresses, will be adding more units for students and members.

We have engaged a number of subject matter experts (SMEs) from within the industry to develop resources and assessment material for the new qualifications, providing their up-to-date expertise for the more technical Units of Competency.

We have also done away with paper-based resources and assessments, moving to a more student-friendly online mode of delivery through the Catapult learning management system.

Learning and assessment is still conducted in the workplace, with students requiring access to facilities

FPA Australia has revised its courses in line with the updated Property Services Training Package, and superseded qualifications for both the Certificate II and Certificate III in Fire Protection Inspection and Testing.

It is now actively accepting enrolments for both the Certificate II and Certificate III in Fire Protection Inspection and Testing.

The Certificate II qualification is for fire protection technicians responsible for non-trade installation and the regular servicing of fire protection equipment and systems.

The Certificate III qualification

For more information, and to apply or nominate members from your organisation to participate in the VLP, please visit www.aidr.org.au/programs/ volunteer-leadership-program.

Location

Program dates

Application due date

Mt Gambier, SA

18–20 March 2022

18 February 2022

Perth, WA

13–15 May 2022

8 April 2022

Darwin, NT

3–5 June 2022

29 April 2022

Cairns, Qld

22–24 July 2022

17 June 2022

Goulburn, NSW

5–7 August 2022

1 July 2022

Armidale, NSW

9–11 September 2022

12 August 2022

Shepparton, Vic

14–16 October 2022

16 September 2022

Launceston, Tas

28–30 October 2022

23 September 2022

The Volunteer Leadership Program is a free professional development opportunity to support volunteers with the skills and confidence to grow as leaders.

and an appropriate workplace supervisor.

If you are interested in the Certificate II or III, or in undertaking individual Units of Competency, please contact the FPA Australia Training team at training@fpaa.com.au or, for more information and enrolments, visit our website, www.fpaa.com.au/training/ routine-service-training.aspx.

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NEWS REVIEW OF THE NSW HOME BUILDING ACT 1989

NSW FIRE SAFETY REPORT PROPOSES MORE REFORM WORK The NSW Government has released Construct NSW’s Industry report on reforms to improve fire safety in new and existing buildings.

The report was the result of work by the steering committee advising the NSW Government on reform of fire safety regulation and practice in buildings, chaired by former Treasury Secretary Michael Lambert.

This committee undertook a detailed review of the regulatory framework, industry practice and the role of regulatory authorities to see where improvements were needed, and proposed further changes to improve the design, installation, certification and maintenance of critical fire safety systems.

An Implementation Taskforce has now been established to develop the committee’s recommendations further, focusing on possible proposals to: require a building manual accredit fire systems certifiers improve documentation introduce AS 1851 as a mandatory standard for maintenance.

FPA Australia Acting CEO Leigh Gesthuizen welcomed the NSW Government’s ongoing commitment to fire safety.

“This work is a significant step forward towards lifting industry

Construct NSW Improving fire safety

Industry report on reforms to improve fire safety in new and existing buildings

October 2021 Industry report on reforms to improve fire safety in completed buildings | October 2021

0

standards and delivering a safer community,” Mr Gesthuizen said.

A recent webinar discussing the recommendations, involving Matt Press from the Office of the Building Commissioner, former President Bill Lea, Board Director Rob Broadhead and State Manager— NSW Mark Whybro can be found at https://fpaaust.eventsair.com/ fpaplus/#reforms.

“This work is a significant step forward towards lifting industry standards and delivering a safer community.”

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– Leigh Gesthuizen, Acting CEO FPAA

ISSUE ONE 2022

Since being appointed two years ago, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler OAM has been investigating residential buildings, and the results of the inspections have been alarming, with evidence of significant breaches being found regularly.

To tighten up construction in the residential sector, therefore, the NSW Department of Customer Service is reviewing the Home Building Act 1989.

Its intent is to replace the legislation with two new Bills: a Building Bill to replace the Home Building Act a Building Compliance and Enforcement Powers Bill, which will consolidate all enforcement powers found under existing building legislation.

The NSW Government anticipates completing drafting by mid to late March 2022, after which time it will release the draft Bills and the regulatory impact statement for public consultation.

Highlights from the proposed new reforms include: new duties on all persons who design, manufacture, supply, import building products; who incorporate products in designs; or who use or install them in construction, to ensure building products are safe for their intended purpose new obligations on licence holders not to do business with parties who have engaged in misconduct consistent continuing professional development processes across all licence holders, to allow industry associations with a professional standards scheme to assess the competency of certifiers better processes for the use of the security bond to rectify defects in strata developments, including the establishment of a framework for the approval of authorised professional associations improved processes for payment claims and retention money trusts to ensure greater protections, and establishing a limited mechanism for adjudication appeals.

FPA Australia is being consulted over the new legislation and is providing the perspective of the fire protection industry to the Department to ensure that community safety is maintained.

When the public consultation is announced, we will be making a submission, and we encourage members to email their feedback to engagement@fpaa.com.au.

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FPA AUSTRALIA LEADERS

A PROFILE OF FPA AUSTRALIA’S NEW CEO The former head of the Civil Contractors Federation Victoria, John Kilgour, has been appointed as FPA Australia’s new CEO. He spoke to Fire Australia about his background and his plans for the future.

PAUL WATERHOUSE FPA Australia

John Kilgour knows it’s important to leave a positive and lasting legacy.

The new CEO of FPA Australia believes everyone, when they take on a role, should ensure the business is in a better condition when they finish than when they arrived.

This requires the “courage to be different”—the courage to ask questions, to make changes and to challenge yourself, others and your organisation to make a difference through ‘outside-thebox’ thinking.

It’s an approach that has served him well in both public and private companies and not-for-profit entities, in locations such as South-East Asia, New Zealand and Ballarat in regional Victoria.

Mr Kilgour spent a large part of his career in several leadership roles with BP in the downstream retail area, where he led an initiative to create the successful BP Highway Travel Centres in Queensland. He also served as the CEO of its subsidiaries BP Petco and Castrol Vietnam, which he transformed into a locally led and profitable manufacturing and retail lubricants operation.

He then moved into asset 14

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management and property consulting, before being selected as CEO of the Committee for Ballarat, which gave him insights into longer-term strategic planning that goes beyond election cycles, delivering social and economic growth ahead of major population expansion predicted for the region.

Most recently, he was the CEO of Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) in Victoria, and President of the Victorian Civil Construction Industry Alliance (VCCIA), which represents 20 member-based associations across civil construction in the state.

These roles saw him advocating for the civil infrastructure sector while negotiating and collaborating with the three tiers of government, unions and other stakeholders for mutual benefit.

Two of his key achievements were the introduction of a Civil Skills Cadetship program, providing sustainable employment and career opportunities for vulnerable and disadvantaged sectors of the community, and the development and introduction of a mental health initiative, Positive Plans—Positive Futures, designed to create mentally healthy workplaces in the construction industry.

Mr Kilgour believes change is achieved by having a clear goal and vision and by recognising that an organisation can only be successful when things are done with, not to, people.

He comes to FPA Australia at the end of a difficult couple of years, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he is keenly focused on the challenge ahead.

He sees a lot of potential in the Association and plans to spend his first 100 days as CEO engaging with

industry, transitioning the business and reaffirming its priorities.

This means asking the basics—what do we stand for, what is our base, what do members want, what is our value proposition, and how do we deliver this value. This will be followed by a process fitness review and mapping to work out what we do well and where we can improve.

He wants to “change the game” with a strong member focus, a clear relevance to all stakeholders, increased capability and improved business processes.

It’s a journey that will see the Association emphasise its most important relationship—with its members—and build upon its strengths to deliver better, more responsive customer service and satisfaction.

A former district cricketer in Victoria and New Zealand with a passion for horse racing, Mr Kilgour knows the importance of working collaboratively towards success, and he’s keen to use his knowledge and experience to help with the transition.

But it’s not only the Association he wants to give a health check. One key initiative he wants to pursue is a mental health strategy for the fire protection sector.

This will focus on prevention by helping people early, so that workers in our industry don’t reach a point where they are at risk. It would be influenced by the model he helped to develop at the CCF. It’s this combination of vision, support and encouragement that will help to transform FPA Australia, help it to deliver for the fire protection sector and create that positive and lasting legacy.

The new CEO of FPA Australia believes everyone, when they take on a role, should ensure the business is in a better condition when they finish than when they arrived.

AFAC LEADERS

AFAC APPOINTS A NEW CEO Late last year, the Board of Directors of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) announced that Mr Rob Webb would take over from Mr Stuart Ellis AM as CEO of AFAC. ALANA BEITZ AFAC

On 13 December 2021, Rob Webb made the move from Director, National Projects and Innovation, and Program Director for the Australian Fire Danger Rating System, to the new AFAC CEO. He takes over from Stuart Ellis AM,

who recently retired after almost 10 years at the helm, at a time when AFAC is making great strides in fire safety, diversity and improvements to mental health.

Mr Webb is an experienced leader in the emergency management industry, with 26 years at the Bureau of Meteorology. He is a former Deputy CEO, who led the Bureau’s state and

national multi-hazard service delivery during some of Australia’s worst disaster events.

He specialised in extreme weather services from the mid-1990s and since then has forged strong partnerships with the emergency management sector at local, state and Commonwealth levels.

His expertise stretches from bushfires to thunderstorms, floods to heatwaves, tropical cyclones to tsunamis. He has liaised with all levels of government, the community and the media during some of Australia’s largest disasters.

He has extensive experience in meteorology, disaster management, disaster communications, service development, operations management, change management and risk management.

Mr Webb is looking forward to continuing to work with the many dedicated AFAC staff to support AFAC Members and the broader emergency management sector to achieve AFAC’s vision of integrated fire and emergency management that supports resilient communities.

“I remain passionate about playing a major role in reducing the social and economic impacts of disasters in Australia by empowering communities and businesses to make the right decisions at the right times,” he said.

“I care deeply about the work I’ve done and treat seriously a lifetime vocation focused on keeping our community safe.”

On behalf of all the directors, staff, members and AFAC stakeholders, the AFAC Board welcomes Mr Webb to the role and looks forward to working with him.

Read more from AFAC CEO Rob Webb on pages 42–43 of this edition of Fire Australia in his ‘Perspectives from the Sector’ interview.

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STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS

NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS FOR FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES AFAC has released its Strategic Directions for Fire and Emergency Services 2022–2026, reflecting a shared vision and joint commitment to safe and secure communities.

ALANA BEITZ AFAC

AFAC Strategic Directions clarify the Foundation’s intent, set priorities for its collaboration at the national level and identify actions required across agencies over the next five years.

The Strategic Directions for Fire and Emergency Services 2022–2026 provides an opportunity to address changing environmental factors and community and business settings as the sector transitions from traditional fire and emergency services officers to emergency management professionals integrated with, and working for, communities.

Five integral themes provide the foundation and link each of the six Strategic Directions of the strategic vision: partnership and collaboration; climate change adaption and mitigation; intelligence-based decision-making; leadership and management; and Traditional Owners and knowledge.

The Strategic Directions also align with the national principles that are fundamental to the work of fire and emergency services: primacy of life trust and confidence interoperability through partnerships accountability.

When the Strategic Directions wind up in 2026, AFAC and its Members expect to see enhanced community resilience and safer communities.

Strategic Direction 1: Supporting resilient communities through risk reduction Climate change is influencing the frequency, scale and intensity of natural hazards, and driving the creation of new hazards and disaster risks that compromise the stability of the natural, social, built and economic environments.

Under this Strategic Direction, fire and emergency services will improve community resilience by: 1. supporting exposed and vulnerable communities 2. integrating a systemic approach to climate and disaster risk 3. partnering and collaborating across sectors 4. enhancing the effectiveness of community education and engagement programs 5. supporting disaster resilience education and collaborative approaches 6. advocating for and promoting effective risk mitigation measures 7. influencing effective land use planning decisions 8. supporting community-centred recovery 9. improving the resilience of Australia and New Zealand’s landscapes.

Strategic Direction 2: Providing a trusted response Rapid-onset, large-scale incidents can have life-altering consequences, causing a potentially high number of fatalities and widespread destruction. Readiness is critical to ensure that response and recovery missions are appropriately executed and successful.

AFAC Members will provide a trusted response by: 1. providing effective, reliable operational response 2. embedding the integration of recovery activities 3. allocating ground and air resources based on risk 4. adopting an evidence-based approach 5. embedding the concept of national capability 6. providing cohesive emergency management and operational support 7. enhancing national response and interoperability 8. supporting capability and leadership development 9. cultivating and enhancing relationships.

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STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS

Strategic Direction 3: Using credible and timely information and data Accurate, reliable and timely information is critical to effective decision-making. Using current and emerging technologies, the sector can enhance community advice and understanding before, during and after emergency events.

Fire and emergency services will use and communicate credible and timely data and information by: 1. implementing and applying the Australian Fire Danger Rating System 2. implementing the Australian Warning System 3. transitioning bushfire simulators from the various existing techniques to Spark Operational 4. establishing national standards and protocols for data collection 5. working collaboratively with other organisations and sectors 6. generating intelligence from data and information 7. enhancing and building greater predictive services capability 8. actively sharing data and information within and between agencies and other stakeholders 9. enhancing community understanding of risk and mitigation approaches.

Strategic Direction 4: Safe, capable and diverse workforce

Strategic Direction 5: Informed by knowledge, innovation and research An ongoing concern for AFAC and its Members is the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Fire and emergency services will anticipate and respond to these challenges, supported by robust knowledge, post-event analysis, research and innovation. Research will be driven by community safety outcomes and efforts will be refocused to maximise value.

AFAC Members will be informed by knowledge, innovation and research by: 1. maintaining a visible link between research and community benefits 2. ensuring knowledge and information is collected, stored and made accessible 3. enhancing evidence-based decision-making 4. actively engaging with Traditional Owners 5. driving innovation to enable sector advancement 6. considering how the sector adapts to future scenarios 7. strengthening our national and international partnerships 8. anticipating and responding to emerging community, industry and government needs.

Strategic Direction 6: Effective and transparent governance

Fire and emergency services have an Australasian workforce of 288,000. Across the broader emergency management sector, the number exceeds 500,000. Governance and resource management of this significant resource needs to be contemporary, adaptable, inclusive and accountable.

Fire and emergency services will foster a safe, capable and diverse workforce by:

Modelling good governance and seeking to build on leading practice will foster an environment that results in greater collaboration while delivering value through strategic and transparent business and procurement processes.

Fire and emergency services will ensure effective and transparent governance by:

1. cultivating a workforce that reflects the diversity of the community

2. compliance with agreed best practice

2. ensuring physically and psychologically safe workplaces 3. engaging in workforce planning to build capacity for current and future needs 4. creating a safe and health workplace for all 5. cultivating adaptable, dynamic leadership 6. professionalising the workforce 7. maintaining a competent, organised, equipped, ready and sustainable workforce 8. participating in professional development events 9. remaining engaged in national initiatives such as the Champions of Change Coalition.

1. influencing and contributing to legislation and policy 3. delivering value 4. pursuing opportunities and information sharing 5. focusing on appropriate risk-management practices 6. designing and implementing rigorous tools and reporting systems 7. improving outcomes by monitoring and evaluating performance.

The Strategic Directions for Fire and Emergency Services 2022–2026 can be viewed online: www.afac.com.au/auxiliary/about/strategy.

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FIRE AUSTRALIA 2022

FIRE AUSTRALIA 2022 IS COMING! The largest fire protection conference and tradeshow in the Southern Hemisphere, Fire Australia, will be returning to Melbourne in 2022. From 3 to 5 May, leading speakers and exhibitors in the fire protection industry will descend on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to demonstrate the latest ideas and innovations in fire.

PAUL WATERHOUSE FPA Australia

Fire Australia is returning to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2022.

From Tuesday 3 May to Thursday 5 May, 2,000 participants and more than 80 exhibitors will take part in three days of industry-leading professional development education.

Fire Australia will bring together leading presenters from Australia and overseas, offering some of the most up-to-date and inspiring content, highlighting innovative solutions to the industry’s challenges, and showcasing an impressive array of new services and technology.

Insightful speakers, informative content

Our program will again be offering different streams of content—from the perceptive to the political to the practical—giving delegates an opportunity to learn new 18

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things and earn continuing professional development points in the process.

Among the many topics and presenters from the conference are: V iews of a Coroner: how do the courts view a disaster?

Presented by Hugh Dillon, former Deputy NSW Coroner A session on future challenges for the industry, presented by social commentator and business analyst Bernard Salt A technical session on megastructures and fire risks: the challenges of complexity and automation.

Wrap up your attendance by taking part in one of our revealing and informative off-site tours.

The latest innovations

Once again, our Tradeshow Hall will showcase some of the best fire protection solutions the industry has to offer.

Our exhibitors will be delighted to demonstrate their innovations and explain how they will help you and your business.

FIRE AUSTRALIA 2022

Recognising excellence, and letting your hair down

This year, the Fire Australia Conference and Awards Gala Dinner will be held in the Palladium at Crown, where we will celebrate the best in fire protection with the Fire Protection Industry Awards.

It will be an evening full of entertainment, unexpected surprises and opportunities to share a drink and network with your industry colleagues.

Once again, we’ll be collecting money on the night to support the Fiona Wood Foundation and its amazing work in repairing lives and helping the recovery of burns victims.

Tickets are available now from www.fireaustralia.com.au Nominations for the Fire Protection Industry Awards are open until Friday 11 March 2022, and the shortlisted candidates will be advised by Friday 8 April 2022.

If you would like to nominate someone for an award, visit www.fireaustralia.com.au/industry-awards-selection-criteria.

To see our Tradeshow from 2021, visit https://captur3d.io/view/fire-protection-industry/fire-australiaconference-tradeshow-2021.

If you’re interested in participating, or would like to take up one of our sponsorship opportunities, contact infofa22@fpaa.com.au or call +61 3 8892 3144.

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SPRINKLERS

AUSTRALIA’S FIRST FIREFIGHTER SPRINKLER TRAINING FACILITY FOR STANDALONE HOUSING GOES LIVE Industry and fire services have developed a facility to show firefighters and practitioners the efficacy and importance of residential sprinklers.

PHOTO: 123RF

PAUL WATERHOUSE FPA Australia

Following the 2012 Bankstown apartment fire, the introduction of Technical Specifications FPAA101D and FPAA101H into the National Construction Code (NCC) created new rules and incentives for sprinklers to be installed in residential buildings.

The NCC requires these features in Class 2 and Class 3 shared residential buildings above four storeys and under 25 metres, leaving it optional for other types of residential premises.

However, a lack of awareness about residential sprinklers, how they operate under the new NCC provisions, and why these changes are important, is acting as a disincentive for their installation, particularly for the FPAA101D model.

This model, which draws its water supply from drinking water and is connected to the water used to flush the building’s toilets, is the most cost-effective option for sprinklers in a home.

To increase operational familiarity with the new sprinkler specifications, the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Australia (HFSCA) proposed a fire brigade training centre in each jurisdiction install and use a FPAA101D 20

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sprinkler system for the purposes of firefighter, industry and community education and training.

The Technical Specifications

FPAA101D and FPAA101H were developed following the coroner’s inquiry into the 2012 Bankstown fire.

That inquiry recommended cost-effective sprinkler systems be created to allow for the installation of fire suppression more affordably in shared residential buildings, and that these should be incorporated into the NCC as a deemed-to-satisfy requirement.

The Specifications were developed by Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), CSIRO, AFAC and FPA Australia, following extensive testing on a purpose-built test rig that reflected the layout of the Bankstown unit where the fire broke out.

These tests showed that flashover in an unsprinklered room will occur within three minutes and 40 seconds, at which time the compartment is fully involved in fire and conditions are untenable for human life.

In contrast, the sprinklered room kept the fire under control for more than 14 minutes, giving the brigade plenty of time to attend the site and extinguish the flames.

Clearly, the presence of a fire suppression system is an important factor for the safety of its residents and responding firefighters, and for the protection of the property.

A goal to go further

HFSCA is a partnership between AFAC and FPA Australia that seeks to be the leading national resource for independent, non-commercial information about home fire sprinklers.

Its work on the Technical Specifications was supported by funding from the International Fire Suppression Alliance, and HFSCA has firmly set itself a goal to make sprinklered residential buildings and homes the rule rather than the exception.

The need for a demonstration

With training on home sprinkler systems part of HFSCA’s strategy, the Coalition approached FRNSW to identify whether a demonstration system could be installed within the Class 1a standalone residential training prop to prove its effectiveness.

FRNSW agreed with this request and a FPAA101D system was installed in a standalone house at its Emergency Services Academy in Orchard Hills, NSW. This is an Australian first and

SPRINKLERS

has created a facility that can show firefighters and other stakeholders what the system looks like, how it will work, what needs to be done for maintenance, how effective it will be in suppressing fires and how to re-establish the system after its activation.

So why do this?

Sprinklers are the next big development in fire safety in residential premises. They build upon the groundwork laid by smoke alarms, recognising that alerting occupants there is a fire in their house is not the same as fighting it.

Residential sprinkler systems, like their commercial counterparts, will extend the time occupants have to escape safely and will help to keep a fire under control until fire crews can come and put it out.

HFSCA Chairman Mark Whybro said that the ultimate goal is to promote community safety: “We know the potential of sprinklers to save lives, but there’s a perception that they are too expensive.

“This facility will show firefighters and other stakeholders how simple these home sprinkler systems are, so that they’ll become ambassadors for them, much as they have done with working smoke alarms,” he said.

FRNSW Assistant Commissioner for Community Safety Trent Curtin said the public policy lessons learnt from smoke detectors are helping to guide the strategy.

“There was a lot of community resistance initially to smoke alarms when they were first introduced, but you wouldn’t even dream about not having detectors in a house today.

“Sprinklers save lives, and the inclusion of sprinkler systems in residential buildings across Australia will significantly reduce the 60-plus preventable deaths per year resulting from house fires.

“FRNSW research has shown that firefighters are seen by the community as trustworthy, credible, reliable voices on fire safety, so they are the ideal ambassadors to encourage the use of these systems,” Mr Curtin said.

The key, according to Leigh Gesthuizen, FPA Australia’s National Manager, Technical, is costeffectiveness: “Nobody will accept an additional $50,000 bill to install residential sprinklers.

“However, incentives in building regulations, and the ability to use domestic water supplies to flush out the system when you flush your toilet or use a tap, allowing ongoing monitoring

of the system, will mean any additional cost to construction is minimal.”

He said the biggest hurdle was education: “We know these systems work, but the people who will need to design, install and certify them need the confidence to do so, with better training on how to do it and why.

“We need to shift the housing industry to a point where installing a residential sprinkler is as simple and routine as installing a sewerage system,” he argued.

Mr Whybro confirmed that HFSCA is co-funding the design, installation and development of this training installation and supporting training materials with FRNSW, and has the same offer open to all other Australian fire agencies.

“Our goal is to have one of these training props in each state and territory, and we’re in discussion with other brigades to set them up.

“Ultimately, we want our frontline firefighters to be respected and passionate advocates of residential sprinkler systems—because these sprinklers will save lives,” he said.

“Ultimately, we want our frontline firefighters to be respected and passionate advocates of residential sprinkler systems—because these sprinklers will save lives.”

– Mark Whybro

NATURAL HAZARDS RESEARCH AUSTRALIA

INTRODUCING NATURAL HAZARDS RESEARCH AUSTRALIA Australia has a new national centre for natural hazards resilience and disaster risk reduction: Natural Hazards Research Australia.

New research is now underway, with plenty of exciting funding opportunities already available.

PHOTO: MATT PALMER / UNSPLASH

DR RICHARD THORNTON CEO, Natural Hazards Research Australia

A new chapter in Australia’s national natural hazards research began in July last year with the establishment of Natural Hazards Research Australia (the Centre).

The Centre is now up and running, extending 18 years of collaborative research from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and its predecessor, the Bushfire CRC. Funded with $85 M over 10 years from the Australian Government, along with contributions from partners, the Centre’s role is to work with partners and the community to produce usable research that creates safer and more resilient communities.

The impacts of natural hazards in Australia are predicted to become more extreme and frequent in the future, so this is an important opportunity to produce research that underpins Australia’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework with the best available evidence and knowledge. The Centre is an important step forward as Australia continues to use research to 22

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think strategically about how we make communities—our built and natural environments—safe and sustainable to the effects of natural hazards.

Since beginning in July, we have been busy working with the government and our partners to develop a strategic natural hazards research agenda for Australia. We’ve also been establishing all the programs and processes that a national centre needs: governance and staff, nodes in states and territories, initial research programs, an education program, funding opportunities, fresh branding, a media presence and much more.

Governance and location

The Centre is a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee and registered as a charity through the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. A refresh of the Board will be completed by mid-2022.

We are establishing new advisory structures to ensure the voices of our end user partners are at the forefront of all we do. This includes advisory panels—including an End User Advisory Panel and an International Research

Advisory Panel—and refreshed Board committees with external advisors that will inform our Board and guide the direction of the Centre.

The Centre is a national entity and does not have a headquarters as such, but we will have staff established in ‘nodes’ within several major cities to ensure that we can regularly engage with our partners and keep our work grounded and locally relevant. We currently have nodes in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and we are continuing discussions with other states and territories.

Partners at the core of our research

Our research approach is highly collaborative—we conduct research with our partners, for use by our partners and the community. This builds on the highly successful processes and practices of the previous CRCs, which have seen the findings of every major research project used by our partners for the benefits of the community, representing a more than six-fold return on every dollar invested.

As such, we have regular discussions

NATURAL HAZARDS RESEARCH AUSTRALIA

with key stakeholders across the natural hazard sector to guide our initial research program and ongoing priorities. This includes state and territory government agencies, local governments and associations, as well as organisations from the private and not-for-profit sectors, industry partners, research institutions and international research bodies. This multi-party engagement ensures the research outcomes we produce will be of most use to as many Australians as possible, helping to keep our communities, landscapes and infrastructure safe from the impacts of natural hazards.

Australia’s national capability can only be formed through the investment of partners who share our mission of creating a safer and more disasterresilient society. We continue to seek new partners, so anyone interested in contributing to Australia’s natural hazard resilience can reach us at office@naturalhazards.com.au.

Towards final research priorities

One of the key features of the Centre is that its research program will be flexible from the beginning. We will redefine our research plans every year to ensure we are addressing the most relevant and current issues for our partners. Our portfolio of projects will include short-, medium- and longterm projects, enabling us to meet the immediate needs of the nation, as well as committing to solving the more complex issues.

We began developing national research priorities in August 2020 by conducting an extensive series of sector-wide workshops with end users and collecting feedback from research partners and others. These workshops helped us to examine the key research needs for the nation, around the following eight themes: communities and workforces of the future sustainable, safe and healthy natural landscapes resilient built environment resilient communities situational awareness operational response and innovation evidence-informed policy, strategy and foresight learning from disasters.

We are currently working with our funding partners to finalise these priorities and define the initial biennial research plan.

We look forward to continuing these discussions and meeting with new and existing partners to broaden the

scope of natural hazard research in the coming months and years.

For more information about our program, visit www.naturalhazards.com. au/research.

First round of research

A targeted first round of research projects is underway, agreed to as part of the negotiations with the Australian Government for the new Centre last year, with most of our projects to be announced in early 2022. These projects extend and support the use of findings from the Australian Government-funded Black Summer research program, conducted by the CRC, including the role of Indigenous land management in managing fire risk and advancements in fire predictive services technology.

Projects are also looking at how the work on extreme fire behaviour can be translated to keep communities and firefighters safe, including using predictive maps when communicating risk to the community.

This round of research is also examining the creation of a Bushfire Information Database, in partnership with the Australian Research Data Commons, and addressing recommendations from the 2020 Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements about the role of data in supporting better decisionmaking. Other approved projects are focusing on post-disaster recovery and on understanding the resilience of lifeline services, such as power, telecommunications, and food and water supply in regional and remote communities.

Details of these and future projects can be found at www.naturalhazards. com.au/research, or by emailing the team at research@naturalhazards.com.au.

Launching our education program

The Centre is committed to supporting and promoting a strong intellectual cohort of researchers who can deliver usable outputs to partners and the wider community. This includes supporting postgraduate research, employment pathways and opportunities for career development of early career researchers.

We recently launched our education program, including postgraduate research scholarships, early career researcher development and industry fellowships and our Associate Student program. You can find all the details at www.naturalhazards.com.au/education.

Quick response funding

Sometimes data needs to be gathered quickly after a natural hazard, so we launched quick response funding in time for summer 2021–22.

This funding supports researchers travelling to areas recently affected by natural hazards to ensure impacts are measured in a timely manner. It builds on the important quick response research from the CRC, which was essential when assessing post-disaster impacts, recovery, data collection, rehabilitation, planning and community response to natural hazards between 2016 and 2021.

Learn more at www.naturalhazards. com.au/news/quick-response-funding.

Strengthening reconciliation through research

Also high on our priority list is strengthening our engagement with First Nations peoples as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we all live and on which the Centre will conduct research.

Through the CRCs, we have a long history of research engagement on land and fire management with First Nations peoples and now, as a national centre, it is important to us that we continue to learn from the knowledge, contributions and perspectives of First Nations communities. With a strengthened commitment to reconciliation, we are in the process of implementing a Reconciliation Action Plan. This is an important step that is guiding the First Nations-led processes, programs and research activities of the Centre.

There are many more updates to share, all of which you can find on our website at www.naturalhazards.com.au.

For the latest information on Natural Hazards Research Australia, follow @hazardsresearch on social media or sign up to our newsletter at www.naturalhazards.com.au/news.

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Natural Hazards Research Australia is the new national centre for natural hazards resilience and disaster risk reduction.

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FIRE FOCUS

MARGARET RIVER FIRE REVEALS THE POWER OF NATURE

A major fire in the Mammoth Cave region of WA’s Margaret River in December 2021 demonstrated the awesome power of bushfires. For a week the massive blaze ripped through the LeeuwinNaturaliste National Park, destroying 8,000 ha of unique forest and local infrastructure.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services Incident Photographer Sean Blocksidge captured some of the startling images from the event.

Have you taken photos from a recent job or experience? Share them with Fire Australia in the Readers’ Corner (see page 48).

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FIRE FOCUS

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25

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SAFETY

CAN FIRE RESISTANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY COEXIST? With climate change causing higher temperatures across the world, there is increasing emphasis on sustainability in the built environment. But, as the Grenfell Tower disaster showed, initiatives to improve sustainability and energy efficiency can sometimes undermine effective fire safety. So, can sustainability and fire resilience coexist?

HAJNAL NAGY FPA Australia

Sustainability features highly in modern building design, and architects and engineers are keenly focused on the efficient use of energy and materials to reduce a building’s footprint.

While the fire industry has been largely on the periphery of some of the debates, there is a growing call for the sector to improve its own services and to adjust its strategies to deal with any increased fire risk arising from these new designs.

But there is an ever-present tension between environmental sustainability and safety that must be balanced so people can continue to be protected along with the planet.

When principles collide

The Grenfell Tower fire arose in part from this tension between sustainability and safety. An apparent desire for greater, cost-effective energy efficiency saw poor construction methods and the use of cheap, combustible cladding panels that, when ignited, caused the 28

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fire to spread rapidly.

The incorrect use of the panels, and insufficient strategies to mitigate their risks, potentially exacerbated a disaster that started with a faulty fridge.

Using panels with a fire-retardant core, at an increase of only £2 per square metre, would have reduced the risk to the building occupants; thus the cheaper version installed on the tower effectively put construction savings and energy efficiency concerns ahead of safety.

Clearly, builders and designers need to look more holistically at their designs, so that they do not only achieve environmental goals, but also ensure buildings and their occupants are protected.

The push for sustainability

Many people equate the sustainability of a building’s design with its ability to deliver energy efficiency or reduce embodied carbon.

But sustainability has long been defined as having three pillars— economic, social and environmental— and a focus solely on environmental concerns could ultimately lead to all

three pillars being undermined.

This is why fire resilience is of paramount importance and why it should be central to any design.

Without fire resilience, any blaze could: allow smoke, toxic gases and particles to contaminate surroundings and have adverse effects on people’s health have a damaging effect on the community, disrupt public services or social activities or destroy critical infrastructure damage resources and infrastructure, causing financial loss both for businesses and occupants.

The construction of fire-resilient buildings can reduce these impacts and limit the disruption fires may cause, minimising the need for repairs or reconstruction.

At a time when society is experiencing increased demands for resources, it is essential that designs seek to protect buildings from fire.

Put simply, a drive for sustainable infrastructure and green technologies should not be allowed to place buildings and occupants at higher risk.

SAFETY

PHOTO: 123RF

A need to shift regulatory thinking

Current regulation looks at fire protection as a means for getting occupants out safely and preventing the spread of fire to neighbouring buildings.

This position is relatively shortsighted, as it does not consider the impact on the owners, occupants and the broader community of assets being destroyed.

Protecting a property in such a way that minimises damage caused by fire will allow an owner to repair it, rather than having to knock it down and rebuild.

While designers increasingly consider environmental sustainability as a value-add to any building, not much thought appears to be given to the loss of that value if a building burns down.

Fire safety and sustainability do not have to conflict, as they share common goals: protecting people and the environment, and minimising resource use.

So, fire resilience should be seen as an integral part of sustainability when developing policies, regulations and sustainable building rating schemes.

How do sustainable materials compare to traditional materials?

Some sustainable materials, systems and techniques—particularly in lightweight construction, insulation or ventilation—are emerging as potential fire hazards.

For example: composite wood joists often have considerably thinner web sections than traditional sawn lumber members, which reduces their inherent fire resistance the metal gusset plates used to connect engineered wood trusses can deform when exposed to high temperatures, which can contribute to early failure of the truss insulation materials like rigid foam insulation, spray-applied foam insulation, structural integrated panels, exterior insulation and finish systems and foil insulation systems methods may help to reduce energy costs by reducing ‘leaks’ in a building, but they can contribute to fire spread and increased smoke production airtight construction can create abnormal conditions during a fire event, which may encourage fire spread and backdrafts insulated concrete forms used in insulation, made from expanded polystyrene, are often flammable and can contribute to fire building systems, such as natural ventilation, can create an obstacle for firefighters trying to control smoke movement.

There are many alternative methods and materials that can help to reduce these risks and that should be considered. For example, fibreglass or mineral wool are naturally fire resistant but are still effective insulators.

Alternatively, better fire protection

systems should be used to control and suppress a fire and account for the increased threat.

Fire sprinkler systems are one effective method for mitigating these risks, by managing the conflagration, keeping fire from damaging lightweight building materials and potentially preventing a collapse. The use of sprinklers can also keep a fire under control for a much longer period, giving firefighters more time to attend the site and extinguish the blaze.

As the Grenfell Tower fire showed, however, such solutions need to be carefully planned, designed and installed so their ability to protect a building is commensurate to the perceived risk.

The question at hand

Can fire resistance and sustainability coexist? Of course they can.

Designers will continue to want to design environmentally sustainable buildings, and they can easily do so, but they cannot forget about fire safety in the process.

Protecting a building is good way of improving its sustainability. The use of natural construction materials, greater insulation and low carbon heat options should not be at the expense of effective fire performance, but they should be protected by it.

After all, a building that is designed to withstand the potentially catastrophic risks of a fire will keep standing and continue to operate. What better way to preserve the benefits gained from sustainable construction?

ISSUE ONE 2022

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AERIAL FIREFIGHTING

AUSTRALIAN FIRST:

NATIONAL LARGE AIR TANKER Australia’s aerial firefighting capability has been taken to new heights with the addition of a national Large Air Tanker, available to all Australian states and territories as needed.

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MOLLY PRICE AFAC

On 23 December 2021, Australia welcomed its new national Large Air Tanker (LAT), to help strengthen the resilience of Australian communities against bushfires. It is the first nationally leased aerial firefighting asset for Australia, allowing the LAT to move around the country and be made available for all states and territories to use.

The aircraft is funded by the Australian Government, through a partnership with the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC). It is available Australia-wide as needed and is being supported by WA at the Busselton airbase. If required, the aircraft can be moved to a longer-term deployment to other airbases.

The LAT was flown in from California via Fiji and touched down in Australia at

AERIAL FIREFIGHTING

such as aerial firefighting. A national LAT capability fills a current gap and is complementary to other firefighting aircraft. It demonstrates a continued partnership between federal and state/territory governments, using NAFC as the collaboration entity.

The Australian Government has provided $4 M to fund the standing charges of the LAT and the smaller lead plane, along with a contribution to the cost of ferrying the aircraft across the country. States and territories contribute infrastructure, supervision and support, with hourly operating charges borne by the jurisdiction benefiting from the resource.

Naming Australia’s national LAT

The national LAT has landed in Australia, but it is yet to be given a name.

Emergency Management Australia, NAFC and the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience are giving young Australians the opportunity to name it.

PHOTO: AFAC

Richmond Airbase in NSW. Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Bridget McKenzie, welcomed it as a significant boost to Australia’s aerial firefighting capability.

“The aircraft will be ready to support fire suppression efforts wherever it is needed. Its operations will be integrated with the hard work of firefighters on the ground. These measures, along with a well-prepared community, will make a great difference for us this disaster season.”

The national LAT is a Boeing 737 operated by aerial firefighting specialists Coulson Aviation Australia.

It is capable of dropping 15,000 litres of retardant or water at flow rates of up to 3,000 gallons a second, the highest rate of any LAT. It is extremely mobile and able to deploy quickly across the country or to situations that may not otherwise be well served by aerial or ground firefighting resources.

The national LAT will work with and supplement the current 161-strong large airtanker, other fixed and rotary wing firefighting aircraft that operate across Australia in 2021–22, alongside more than 250 other aircraft on NAFC’s ‘call when needed’ fleet. The diversity in the NAFC fleet continues to be an effective approach to aerial firefighting in Australia.

Every year, bushfires in Australia threaten communities and cause substantial damage and economic loss. Well-documented changes in climate, demographics and settlement patterns indicate increasing risk and a greater role for mitigation measures

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At the start of Term 1 2022, Australian students in Years 5–8 from schools in regional and rural areas will have the opportunity to submit entries to name the national LAT. This competition will allow young Australians to get involved and contribute to Australia’s disaster resilience.

The winning class will: h ave their nominated name displayed on the national LAT and will be invited to contribute to the design of the aircraft’s livery receive a visit from the Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie to celebrate the success be featured, along with their school, in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management.

For more information about the national LAT naming competition, visit www.schools.aidr.org.au/nationallat-naming-competition.

Left: Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie (centre) welcomes the arrival of the national Large Air Tanker with DirectorGeneral Emergency Management Australia Joe Buffone (left) and AFAC CEO Rob Webb (right).

FIRE-ATMOSPHERE MODELLING

PHOTO: NED DAWSON, NSW RFS

BUSHFIRE INSIGHTS UNCOVERED WITH NEW FIRE-ATMOSPHERE MODELLING New research is offering insights into the destructive Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20, which were at times driven by complex interactions between the fire and the atmosphere that produced extreme local fire behaviour.

NATHAN MADDOCK Natural Hazards Research Australia

Above: Fireatmosphere research is providing new insights into why the 2019–20 fires were so destructive.

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Cutting-edge research, led by Dr Mika Peace from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), has used advanced supercomputer simulations that combine bushfire behaviour and meteorology to investigate why some of the 2019–20 bushfires were so extraordinary and challenging for firefighters.

The research examined bushfires at Badja Forest (NSW), Green Valley Talmalmo/Corryong (NSW/Victoria), Kangaroo Island (SA), Stanthorpe (Queensland) and Yanchep (WA).

“The research uses two linked models to help us understand the processes driving these challenging

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and destructive fires—one which simulates the fire and one which simulates the weather, so by combining them we can see how both the fire and weather change in response to each other," Dr Peace said.

“It’s only possible to research the fire behaviour resulting from these interactions between the fire and the weather, such as extreme local winds and rotating fire plumes, through work like this.

“As we learn and share these findings, we are able to apply our knowledge to future bushfires.

Right now, we can use the findings to help fire behaviour analysts and fire meteorologists recognise the conditions that lead to extremely dangerous localised bushfire behaviour.”

Research shows the drought and

heatwave conditions experienced in the lead up to and during all five fires were a key factor in priming the landscape for extreme fire behaviour, but local weather conditions were also important when combined with the very dry vegetation.

Unusual fire activity occurred in the overnight period, when fire intensity and rate of spread is typically expected to decrease. Interactions between strong winds above the ground, topography and the fire plume circulation were key drivers accelerating surface fire spread at night.

“The conventional understanding of bushfire behaviour will tell you that fire activity will decrease overnight as the temperature drops, humidity rises and winds become lighter,” Dr Peace explained.

FIRE-ATMOSPHERE MODELLING

“The modelling shows that very strong low-level winds descending to the ground behind the fire plume were a critical reason why the Badja Forest and Corryong bushfires burnt so fast overnight.”

Pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds, sometimes called fire-generated thunderstorms, were a key feature of the 2019–20 fire season, with the number of pyroCb clouds recorded being the most recorded in Australia in any one season. However, the five fires examined were not all associated with pyroCb clouds, highlighting that it is not the only weather phenomenon associated with extreme fire behaviour that season.

The simulations show that the fireaffected wind near a fire plume can be much stronger than the background winds and that destructive winds can occur, including extreme fire-front winds and fire-generated vortices.

“For the bushfires that occurred close to the coast—Yanchep in Western Australia and on Kangaroo Island—the combination of heatwave conditions,

the temperature difference between the hot land and the cooler water and local topography led to complex winds that changed the bushfire behaviour,” Dr Peace explained.

Sea breezes, the local environment and the fire caused erratic, variable winds along active fire lines, which at times stretched for several kilometres.

The bushfire simulations undertaken through this research use the Australian Community Climate and Earth-System Simulator Fire (ACCESS-Fire) model and are run on the National Computational Infrastructure supercomputer in Canberra. The results show the benefits of enhanced simulation capability and supercomputer power.

Due to the level of detail, data and computer power required it is currently not possible to model bushfire behaviour like this when bushfires are burning.

This research was a partnership between the CRC and BoM and was conducted in close collaboration with fire and land management agencies in each state.

The project highlights the complexity of the fire environment and fire management and shows how a coordinated multidisciplinary approach can make effective fire behaviour predictions.

The research report, Coupled fire-atmosphere simulations of five Black Summer fires using the ACCESS-Fire model, can be accessed at www.bnhcrc.com.au/publications/ black-summer-fire-modelling.

This research to investigate key issues from the 2019–20 bushfire season was part of the CRC’s Black Summer research program, funded by the Australian Government and the CRC. The team comprised Dr Mika Peace, Barry Hanstrum, Dr Jesse Greenslade, Dr Dragana Zovko-Rajak, Dr Abhik Santra, Dr Jeffrey Kepert, Dr Paul Fox-Hughes, Dr Harvey Ye, Tasfia Shermin and Jeffrey Jones from the BoM.

THE YEAR AHEAD

REACHING OUT: FPA AUSTRALIA’S PLANS FOR 2022 With the appointment of a new CEO and growing freedoms from lockdowns and restrictions, 2022 is looking to be a busy year for FPA Australia.

LEIGH GESTHUIZEN FPA Australia

In June last year, FPA Australia appointed the first of its state managers under the National Advocacy Framework (NAF).

The NAF is our strategy to improve local engagement and government relations so we can better represent the fire protection sector and its interests.

We now have three state managers: Allen Mitchell in Queensland, Mark Whybro in NSW and Peter Collina in Victoria, and we intend to appoint further managers in the future.

The motivation behind these appointments is to improve the reach of FPA Australia and to increase our ability to interact early with governments over changes to policy.

A lack of a strong ‘on the ground’ presence at a state and territory level in the past has affected our ability to engage directly with ministers and bureaucrats—it is hard to influence policy if you’re in a different state.

The NAF will give us local presence.

Our state managers are informed and supported by our technical team and our Technical Advisory Committees. Their expertise and insight about standards, regulations and fire protection policy help to develop strong public positions and to create good practice guides, information bulletins and other relevant content to educate the industry.

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Improving engagement

But this is only part of the picture.

Like all associations, FPA Australia succeeds or fails based on its relationship with its members.

The last two years haven’t been kind—lockdowns and restrictions (particularly in Victoria) caused much of our activity to move online, preventing face-to-face activities and direct member engagement.

This year will be different.

We have been developing a program of face-to-face events for 2022, driven by our state and territory Local Coordinating Committees, with topics that will appeal to practitioners across the industry.

These events will help to increase the networking opportunities available to members and give access to goodquality technical presentations on relevant information.

We plan to record these events so members can take part, even if they cannot be there in person, by accessing them through our FPA+ portal, along with our regular webinars.

In May, Fire Australia 2022 returns, so we’re currently putting final touches on a program that is sure to be interesting and informative.

Training and accreditation

The training team is ramping up with our Certificate II and III courses in Fire Protection Inspection and Testing, and we’re working on additional courses and units over the next 12 months to help increase the skills of the industry.

Accreditation has been very busy over the last couple of years, with the roll-out of mandatory accreditation in NSW, and there is no sign that this activity will ease up any time soon.

There is a lot of opportunity for recognition of our Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme (FPAS) and Bushfire Planning and Design Scheme (BPAD), even in those states that prefer licensing, and we are working on the mutual recognition implications for the Association.

Better member services

We have good membership numbers; however, increased local activity will be essential to maintaining a strong base.

We are reviewing the benefits we offer our members and the services we provide—such as the shop and our Provider of Choice platform—so there will continue to be advantages to belonging.

A key part of that is the service given to members and other stakeholders, and our new customer service team has significantly improved our ability to respond to queries and provide support.

Another element of member engagement is communications, which has been a big focus over the last 18 months and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Aside from the magazine and enewsletters, the next year will see an increase in videos through our FPA Australia TV channel, and the revamp of our website to provide a better, more user-friendly portal to the Association.

THE YEAR AHEAD

PHOTO: PHILIP GRAVES / UNSPLASH

New leadership

His 100-day plan will undoubtedly present a few new As noted earlier, late in February we initiatives and opportunities to will have a new CEO. John Kilgour will improve our services to members, be joining us from the Civil Contractors and we are excited for his tenure Federation (Victoria) and will bring a - Redmen Ad 130x185mm 29.01.21.pdf 1 1/29/21 9:26 AM to commence. wealth of346539 experience.

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LESSONS MANAGEMENT

RECONNECT AND REFLECT: LESSONS MANAGEMENT FORUM RETURNS The last Lessons Management Forum took place in July 2019. Since then, Australian emergency managers and responders have experienced significant hazards and emergency events—including the 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires, significant flood storm and cyclone activity, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

ALANA BEITZ AFAC

The Lessons Management Forum, co-hosted by AFAC and the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR), returns on 22 and 23 March 2022. It will provide an overdue opportunity for lessons management practitioners to share good practice, learnings and innovations. Attendees will come together to consider the most effective way to draw lessons from the past two years and embed them into future policy and practice.

The Forum will again explore lessons learned from extreme incidents and ways to manage them. There will be a broad range of presentations and workshops from various organisations, jurisdictions and sectors to explore the theme ‘What does success look like?’

The program will discuss ways to achieve demonstrable changes in behaviour, improve knowledge and encourage innovation.

What is lessons management?

At the core of lessons management is the aim to create a culture of learning.

The Lessons Management Handbook (AIDR 2019) explains: Lessons management is an overarching term that refers to collecting, analysing, disseminating and applying learning experiences from events, exercises, programs and reviews. These learning experiences include those that should be sustained and those that need to improve. The goal of this activity is ongoing improvement by organisations and the people who work for them. Organisational growth and continuous improvement are particularly 36

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relevant where preservation of life is the primary goal.

Consistent lessons management supports improved learning, efficient practices, better safety and shared knowledge. Well implemented lessons management practices improve the interoperability of fire and emergency agencies by establishing a common language, aggregating information and allowing for cross-agency information exchange and analysis.

Large-scale events—such as the Black Summer bushfires, flood and storm events, and the COVID-19 pandemic—impact communities across borders and trigger responses from agencies in multiple jurisdictions.

Reflecting on such events, sharing observations and promoting a consistent approach to lessons management provides a foundation for the emergency management sector to build collective capability and preparedness for future complex events.

Hybrid event for accessible learning

The Lessons Management Forum will run as a hybrid event in 2022, offering delegates the choice to attend either in-person at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre or online. For those attending in person, additional networking opportunities will be made available.

AFAC Lessons Management Award The winner of the AFAC Lessons Management Award, sponsored by C3 Resilience, will be announced on 22 March 2022, recognising the winner’s efforts to develop lessons management capability within their organisation and across the sector.

AFAC and its members acknowledge the continued need to develop lessons management capability across the fire and emergency services in Australia.

The AFAC Knowledge, Innovation and Research Utilisation Network develops and advocates approaches that support the sharing of good practice in knowledge management, lessons management, innovation and cultural practices, to support our sector at all levels.

Lessons Management Handbook

In 2019, the AIDR launched the Lessons Management Handbook at the Forum. The handbook identifies core principles and suggests frameworks and processes to support the successful implementation of lessons management, which is integral to the continuous improvement of organisational capability, individual learning and our collective resilience.

The handbook is primarily aimed at the emergency management sector, although the principles and processes can be used by any sector or organisation and are relevant to all levels of an organisation, including: knowledge and lessons practitioners individuals, supervisors, managers and leaders seeking to collect, analyse and share lessons in industry, organisations, jurisdictions or across sectors learning and development professionals.

The Lessons Management Handbook can be downloaded free from the AIDR website: www.knowledge. aidr.org.au/resources/lessonsmanagement-handbook.

LESSONS MANAGEMENT

2022 Lessons Management Forum program Day 1: Tuesday 22 March Time

Presentation

10.15 am

Opening address Greg Leach, Commissioner, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services

10.30 am

Using research to learn future lessons about disaster exercises (Part 1) Mark Ryan, C3 Resilience

11.30 am

Lessons management: an important enabler for change Josipa Matesa, Resilience NSW and Scott Colefax, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Presenting on behalf of the NSW SEMC Lessons Management Advisory Group

12.00 pm

The learning process: what’s missing?

Mark Thomason

12.30 pm

Regaining trust in debriefs Coralie Muddle and Ian Phipps, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Lessons management recognition

2.00 pm

Lessons Management Award, sponsored by C3 Resilience Announcement of the Lessons Management Award and presentation from award winner

2.30 pm

Selling the need for lessons management: bringing the workforce along Dan Meijer and Josh Atkins, NSW Rural Fire Service

PHOTO: AFAC

Learning from lessons

The Lessons Management Forum aims to support agencies in developing and embedding a culture of learning and improving.

Community-driven lessons 3.30 pm

Community-centred learnings from the K’gari (Fraser Island) Bushfire Review Corinne Mulholland, Office of the Inspector-General of Emergency Management

4.00 pm

Success: a great reality check Janelle Wheatley and Scott Hanckel, ACT Emergency Services Agency

4.30 pm

Success is learning from and with our communities Mike Wassing, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Day 2: Wednesday 23 March

10.00 am

Recap: Lessons Management Forum Day One Forum Host

10.15 am

Closing the loop: moving from lessons we don’t learn to lessons we do Alistair Dawson, Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management COVID-19 lessons

11.30 am

Learnings from a unique response Joe Buffone, Emergency Management Australia

12.00 pm

Defence lessons identified from COVID-19 Alan Hunter, Department of Defence

12.30 pm

A terror attack, a volcanic eruption and COVID-19 Claire Bibby, Claire Pettigrew and Des Hosie, LessoNZ Community of Practice Change in lessons perspectives

2.00 pm

Disaster recovery from an Indigenous service perspective Pou Vaeau, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency

2.30 pm

Finally: a whole-of-government framework for lessons management Australian Civil-Military Centre

3.00 pm

Using research to learn future lessons about disaster exercises (Part 2) Mark Ryan, C3 Resilience

Lessons Management Forum registration details In-person attendance

Virtual attendance

$395.00 per person

$245.00 per person

Includes: Includes:  two-day program  two-day program  participation in Q&A with speakers  participation in Q&A with speakers  printed delegate program  digital delegate program.  day catering  networking function at the conclusion of day 1.

For more details and to register, visit: www.aidr.org.au/resources/lessons-management-forum.

PHOTO: AFAC

The future of lessons

The Lessons Management Forum will bring practitioners together online and in person in March 2022.

The program will discuss ways to achieve demonstrated changes in behaviour, improve knowledge and encourage innovation.

AFAC and AIDR would like to thank our sponsors for their support of the Lessons Management Forum: ◆ Gold Sponsor: Queensland Fire and Emergency Services ◆ Silver Sponsor: Inspector-General Emergency Management, Queensland ◆ Bronze Sponsor: Phoenix Australia ◆ Award Sponsor: C3 Resilience ISSUE ONE 2022

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CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE

PROGRESSING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE IN THE FIRE AND EMERGENCY SECTOR Above: Generational change: increasing gender diversity improves individual, team and organisational performance.

PHOTO: GARY HOOKER

38

The fire and emergency sector operates in an increasingly challenging and complex space.

To ensure a future-ready workforce, the sector needs to have an inclusive work culture that enables agencies to recruit across the full spectrum of talent available in the community.

MADELEINE KELLY AFAC

Improving gender balance and increasing diversity will enable the sector to better support and engage with the diverse communities we serve.

Established in 2010 by Elizabeth Broderick AO, the Champions of Change Coalition is a globally recognised strategy for achieving gender equality and building respectful and inclusive workplaces. The lack of gender diversity and inclusion within some workforces led AFAC and its members to join the Coalition in 2017.

The Fire and Emergency Group is convened by the former Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton and includes chief executives, commissioners and chief fire officers from the agencies responsible for fire, emergency and land management services across Australia and New Zealand. The group enables agencies to learn from each other, gain insights from other sectors and to drive leadership action to build buy-in and push for change to create workplaces and work cultures that are truly inclusive.

New CEO Rob Webb is the incoming Champion of Change for AFAC. He believes that the collective minds contributing to the Coalition provide an

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opportunity to move the dial on what we see as normal and acceptable.

“Each AFAC member is embarking on a diversity and inclusion journey.

AFAC can use its existing membership network to support the efforts of individual agencies to recognise achievements and provide tangible examples for others to learn from, adopt and adapt.”

“Increasing gender diversity improves individual, team and organisational performance. Frameworks and mindsets developed through our partnership with Champions of Change support us to build inclusive environments when working for and with diverse communities, including CALD, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+ and people with disabilities,” he said.

As part of the transparency and accountability commitment, the Champions of Change Coalition strategy uses annual reporting to track progress.

In the fourth report for the Fire and Emergency Group, overall representation of women in the sector was at 21.6% in 2021—a decrease from previous years and down from 24.9% in 2020. However, women’s promotions achieved across the group had a slight increase to 23.2% compared to 19.1% in 2020.

Women’s representation in key management personnel roles in frontline service delivery has increased

to 24.2%, an increase on previous years and a big increase from 10 per cent in 2018, the first year of reporting.

Frontline service delivery roles include anyone whose primary role is to directly engage with the community to deliver a service that assists in the prevention, preparedness, response, or recovery of incidents.

“I’m proud to be part of a sector that has stood up and committed to action to progress gender equity,” Mr Webb said.

“The actions we take now can shape the workforce we leave for the next generation. All of us can take personal responsibility to establish the new normal and drive us from commitment to tangible results.”

Find reports and resources to support gender equity action at the Champions of Change website: Champions of Change Coalition, 2019, 40:40:20 for Gender Balance: Interrupting Gender Bias in Your Talent Processes. https:// championsofchangecoalition.org/ resource/disrupting-the-system/ Champions of Change Coalition, 2021, Fire and Emergency Progress Report 2021. https:// championsofchangecoalition.org/ reports-and-resources/

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CULTURAL BURNING

STORIES OF CULTURAL BURNING IN SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA New research-backed storytelling resources are helping fire agencies and land management departments better understand cultural burning.

Below: The Cultural burning in southern Australia booklet and poster series share personal Indigenous stories to help fire agencies and land management departments better understand cultural burning.

VANESSA CAVANAGH, LANI BALZAN AND NICOLE BURTON

Right: An excerpt from Bundjalung and Woonarua woman Vanessa Cavanagh’s story. For the full story, see the booklet and poster.

NATHAN MADDOCK Natural Hazards Research Australia

The Cultural burning in southern Australia illustrated booklet and poster series amplifies Indigenous peoples’ perspectives on cultural burning by sharing six personal stories of what burning means. The stories showcase the diversity of this cultural practice and the common elements shared across Australia and are accompanied by stunning illustrations.

Four of the contributions centre on burning one’s own Country in southern Australia, while two stories reflect on experiences in academic and government roles that aim to learn from and support Traditional Owners and cultural burning. The stories are shared from members of the Noongar, Gunditjmara, Palawa, Ngunnawal, Bundjalung/Woonarua and Keytej peoples.

Dean Freeman (ACT Parks and Conservation Service) and Bhiamie Williamson (Australian National University) provided cultural oversight in bringing the collection together, as led by Dr Jessica Weir (Western Sydney University) with support from Dr Yasmin Tambiah (WSU), through the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC’s Hazard, culture and Indigenous communities project. The Aboriginal artwork featured is by Wiradjuri artist Lani Balzan, and the story illustrations are by Nicole Burton from Petroglyph Studios.

Dr Adam Leavesley, project end user from the ACT Parks and Conservation

Service, explained that it is critical for fire and land management agencies to continue learning more about cultural burning.

“As fire and land management agencies in southern Australia, we need to continue to build relationships with Traditional Owners. These resources will help a broader range of land managers with a starting point for learning and engagement on cultural burning,” Dr Leavesley said.

“This was the genesis for these resources to be produced, as we knew that agency practitioners wanted and needed more guidance and knowledge about cultural burning to partner and engage with Indigenous groups, but there is a lack of resources to assist with this.”

Dean Freeman, end user and Wiradjuri man, explained the pride Indigenous people feel about cultural burning.

“If I couldn’t be connected with my

VANESSA CAVANAGH, LANI BALZAN AND NICOLE BURTON

40

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past, I don’t think I’d be here today,” Mr Freeman said. “The feeling to burn with your family, that’s the ultimate.

That’s how we heal.”

Also included in the booklet are ten cultural burning principles, co-authored by the Indigenous authors involved in the project.

Dr Weir explained that the purpose of these cultural burning principles was to provide guidance to a broad audience unfamiliar with cultural burning.

“These principles help articulate some of the core matters at hand, which Aboriginal leaders have been raising for generations. These voices can be hard to hear when they are the minority in the room, and so different from the dominant culture of governments and universities.

“We hope the Cultural burning in southern Australia booklet and posters will help address this by providing the opportunity to see a different viewpoint, to stand in someone else’s shoes. This is critical in developing more respectful relationships between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people. We are all living together on Country.”

Find the Cultural burning in southern Australia illustrated booklet and posters at www.bnhcrc.com.au/resources/ cultural-burning-southern-australia.

Read Dr Weir’s blog about the collaborative process and value of the resources at www.bnhcrc.com.au/ news/blogpost/jweir/2021/amplifyingindigenous-cultural-burning-voices.

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AFAC Q&A

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE SECTOR

Rob Webb was appointed as the new AFAC CEO in December 2021, having formerly been the AFAC Director of National Projects and Innovation.

He comes to the role with extensive experience in meteorology and firefighting strategy. In his first CEO Q&A, we turn the spotlight onto him.

Here are his answers.

Vibrant and focused collaboration networks supported by our members will play an important role in maturing the fire and emergency services that we hand on to our sector’s next generation.

– Robb Webb 42

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AFAC Q&A

AFAC staff members host Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Senator Bridget McKenzie at the AFAC office.

ALANA BEITZ AFAC

You bring more than 25 years’ experience at the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) to the CEO role at AFAC. How will that experience serve you in this new role, and what are you keen to learn?

My first memories as a meteorologist were stepping into the BoM’s Sydney office in late 1993 with the devastating 1993–94 fires in full swing. Those formative stages produced a deepseated respect and passion for the role of emergency services that remains.

With rapid changes in technology, disasters and the community, my years at the BoM were defined by our responsibility to understand the evolving needs of fire and emergency services and deliver national solutions while respecting the local needs arising across the country.

AFAC’s role is quite similar, drawing together the wealth of knowledge and experience across the country and helping our members collectively accelerate to meet the needs of their communities.

Initially, I am simply keen to understand the sector. I want to listen and learn about the opportunities and risks facing our diverse membership base and, from there, work with the AFAC team to continue to connect and amplify.

AFAC is a member-based organisation that works to support the fire and emergency sector. How will AFAC continue to understand the needs of the sector, and how can

The Australian Government National Recovery and Resilience Agency visit the AFAC office in November 2021.

agencies make the most of their relationship with AFAC?

At the heart of any relationship is communication—and that starts with deeply listening and understanding our members and how they operate. From this understanding comes insight into opportunities and connections both within and outside the sector.

AFAC enjoys a close relationship across the sector and deeply values member investment in the collaboration network. Agencies continuing to invest their time allows AFAC to be at its strongest. Continuing to connect and share insights and identify areas of common need will allow us to collectively make the most inroads to delivering the capabilities required for our work.

AFAC will continue to connect and amplify the knowledge within the sector and streamline the path from agency developments to sector-wide success.

What do you see as AFAC’s greatest strengths, and how will you continue to guide the development of AFAC’s legacy?

AFAC’s strengths arise from our people, members and relationships.

Our people have built skills and knowledge that allow us to play the important role in drawing the sector together to realise common needs.

We must continue to ensure that our workforce can meet emerging needs.

Vibrant and focused collaboration networks supported by our members will play an important role in maturing the fire and emergency services that we hand on to our sector’s next generation. We will work to look at connections both inside and outside the network to maximise the benefits back to each of our members.

Technology is disrupting every part of our lives and our members are constantly seeking ways to manage these disruptions. Being able to collectively solve some of these challenges can allow development work to be more easily shared.

This doesn’t mean everyone doing everything the same, but rather we recognise that there is value in similar standards in some areas.

Our AFAC Conference and Exhibition will also remain a place to innovate, and we must also continue to establish deep links to research providers such as Natural Hazards Research Australia.

The fire and emergency services are experiencing some significant changes—in culture, climate and communities—that challenge the way we work and serve. How can the sector prepare and position itself to meet shifting needs and priorities?

Change is part of our landscape, and our sector needs to continue to scan the environment and learn from each other, but also, importantly, from lessons learned in other sectors.

True connection to the communities and businesses our sector serves will better place us to reduce the impact of disasters by enhancing community resilience, ensuring a strong continuum through response and recovery. Our people need to be well-placed to meet our future needs. Investing in a diverse and representative workforce will streamline our journey.

Building agencies of the future who are deeply inquisitive and willing to innovate will allow us to nimbly make the best decisions in building decisionsupport systems for our people.

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INFLUENCING STANDARDS

AFAC CONTRIBUTING TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ON BEHALF OF THE SECTOR As the national council for fire and emergency services in Australia and New Zealand, AFAC is a lead contributor to international and Australia/New Zealand standards.

PHOTO: FRNSW

Developing standards for firefighter personal protective clothing is improving safety for the sector.

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CLAIRE BRENTNALL AFAC

AFAC is represented on more than 55 Australian/New Zealand, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) committees.

These organisations bring our industry together to collaborate over standards for sprinklers in buildings, construction in bushfire-prone areas, personal protective equipment (PPE) or other relevant topics for fire and emergency services.

As a leading advocate for Australasian fire agencies, AFAC plays a key role in the development and revision of fire-related standards, promoting the interests of the broader emergency management sector. Representatives consult with all members when developing or commenting on draft standards, promoting the collective view of AFAC member agencies.

Over the past 18 months, AFAC representatives have been actively engaging with ISO, Standards Australia and the sector, which AFAC Director Standards and Strategy Procurement Russell Shephard AFSM said has required a flexible and agile approach during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From a personal perspective, running international meetings with delegates across the globe in different time zones was extremely daunting; however, with the challenges came possibilities. I have found with the

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Firefighters PPE Committee, in particular, the online environment has proven to be a successful tool for international collaboration,” Mr Shephard said.

Below are three major initiatives being driven currently at an ISO level, providing a snapshot of AFAC’s involvement on the international stage. Each of these projects is being managed by ISO/ Technical Committee 94/Sub Committee 14: Firefighters’ Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (SC14).

ISO 23616 Cleaning, inspection and repair of firefighters’ personal protective equipment (PPE) SC14 agreed to develop a standard for the cleaning, inspection and repair of firefighters PPE, ISO 23616.

Historically, fire and rescue services referenced and certified PPE to NFPA Standard 1851 Standard on selection, care and maintenance of protective ensembles for structural fire fighting and proximity fire fighting, but this is not an international standard. Publication of ISO 23616 will see the first international Standard in this space.

The document was initiated in response to growing concerns about contaminated PPE and potential health hazards for firefighters, to provide guidance on the inspection and maintenance of firefighting PPE. Fire and rescue services and manufacturers of PPE worldwide are working together on the project to minimise and manage risks to firefighters.

SC14 Working Group (WG) 1 has held several virtual meetings over the past 12 months, considering more than 800 comments from international members on the draft.

The draft standard was released for a Final Draft International Standard ballot prior to Christmas 2021, which only allowed for editorial comments, not further technical ones.

The approved standard should be published in the first quarter of 2022.

This will be one of the most important standards published by ISO SC14 Firefighters PPE Committee, providing guidance on how to deal with the cleaning and maintenance of PPE.

ISO 24588 Personal protective ensembles for use against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents. Classification, performance requirements and test methods This standard was approved as a new work item for a joint WG of SC14 and Sub Committee 13 on CBRN. A first draft, released following the meeting in Arnhem (June 2019), attracted 161 comments that were reviewed the next November in Melbourne, resulting in agreement to develop a formal committee draft (CD).

However, the standard was placed on hold for six months because the COVID-19 pandemic affected many experts’ availability to participate.

Work recommenced in early 2021 with several virtual meetings in February and March considering all comments received and the best way forward. At the time of writing a second CD was being prepared.

ISO 11999 series (includes Parts 1-10) PPE for firefighters—Test methods and requirements for PPE used by firefighters who are at risk of exposure to high levels of heat and/ or flame while fighting fires occurring in structures (Parts 1–10) ISO 11999 was prepared by SC14 and approved for publication over five years ago. This standard was developed as an ensemble standard, so it has several parts at various stages of publication.

SC14 WG 2 revised Parts 1–6 and 9, and it was directed to consider the need for particulate protection and a harmonised approach to single performance requirements for heat and flame.

Part 10: Respiratory protection is currently awaiting approval as a new work item, and will reference ISO CD 17420-5, the standard for respiratory protective devices for fire services.

For more information, visit www.afac.com.au/auxiliary/ publications/watch.

STANDARDS UPDATE

LEIGH GESTHUIZEN National Manager, Advocacy, FPA Australia

AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS

FP-002 Fire detection and alarm systems Resolution of the public comment on the AS 1670.6 revision and AS 3786 revision (an adoption, with modification, of ISO 12239) continues.

AS 1670.1-2018 amendment AS 1670.12021 is available for download.

FP-004 Automatic fire sprinkler installations Progress continues on the revision of AS 2118.6.

FP-018 Fire safety Progress continues on the revisions of AS 1530.1 (combustibility test) and AS 1530.4 (fire-resistance tests).

FP-020 Construction in bushfire-prone areas Progress continues on the new handbook for Maintenance of construction in bushfire-prone areas (SA HB 208).

FP-022 Fire protection of mobile and transportable equipment Resolution of the public comment on AS 5062 continues.

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES UPDATE

The next TAC meetings will be held remotely in March 2022.

TAC/1 Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment TAC/1 reconfirmed its work program for 2022. Work continues on reviewing comments for the draft project proposal for the revision of AS 1851-2012, as well as other projects to update or develop new technical documents. The NSW EPA sent out an email on Wednesday 10 November 2021 advising that it has published further guidance information on how to prepare for and comply with its requirements on PFAS firefighting foams.

TAC/2 Fire detection and alarm systems The TAC continues to seek to progress the draft ‘Good Practice Guide’ on speaker layout. The ‘Information Bulletin’ on building occupant warning systems is also almost at the stage for final editing.

A previous draft document on detection in carparks is under review.

The report commissioned by the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner was submitted to NSW cabinet with nine recommendations, six of which align with FPA Australia’s key strategic statements.

TAC/3/7 Portable and mobile equipment The ACCC has released the updated mandatory standard for portable nonaerosol fire extinguishers.

There is a 12-month transition period during which people can meet either the current or updated mandatory standard. The mandatory standard is based on certain sections of the voluntary Australian New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 1841.1-2007 Portable fire extinguishers. There has been much progress in this space with documents on extinguisher agent replacement and foam extinguisher marking in advanced development, as well as issue registers being created for a potential revision of AS/NZS 1841 and AS/NZS 1850.

TAC/4/8/9 Fire sprinkler and hydrant systems, tanks and fixed fire pumps The TAC revisited previous work on pumpset checklists. The document will be made available to industry for free.

There was much discussion on the requirements of different Australian Standards, including AS 2118.1 (concealed spaces, incidental storage and protection of high voltage areas), AS 2118.6 (water supply calculation) and AS 2304 (break tanks, test drain sizes).

TAC/11/22 Special hazards fire protection systems There have been minimal developments

at TAC/11/22 given AS 5062 is near completion and a lull in the policy space regarding firefighting foam. Firefighting foams are expected to be a hot topic in 2022 with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority beginning a review of its requirements, the implementation of the Commonwealth’s Industrial Chemicals Environmental Standard Register and an expected new firefighting foam proposal at the European Chemicals Agency.

As previously noted, the NSW EPA has published further guidance information on how to prepare and comply with their requirements on PFAS firefighting foams.

This is available on their website.

TAC/17 Emergency planning An update of the ‘Information Bulletin on Evacuation Diagrams’ is nearing completion, along with a new document on the requirement to have emergency plans. The ‘Information Bulletin on Evacuation Exercises During a Pandemic’ has been sent to our publisher for finalisation. Work also continues in earnest on the issue register that is to form the basis of a potential project proposal to revise AS 3745, as well as other technical documents that may also support this.

TAC/18/19 Passive fire protection IB-18 Using polyurethane foams was published on 12 November 2021.

Work continues on another possible document on unfilled frames in fire doorsets. Discussion on training and other documents continues, as does contribution to the work of FP-018.

TAC/20 Bushfire safety An update and discussion on AS 54142012 Bushfire water spray systems was given at the meeting. Work continues on a BPAD practice note on conducting BAL assessments using method 1 of AS 3959-2018.

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WOMEN IN FIRE

BURNING AMBITION: CHAMPIONING AND CELEBRATING WOMEN’S ROLES IN FIRE AND EMERGENCY Ariana Henderson spoke with Stephanie Looi about her career in fire and emergency over the past decade—her heroes, challenges, highlights and advice for women wanting a career in the sector.

ARIANA HENDERSON Implementation Leader, Champions of Change Fire and Emergency Group

For the past 11 years, Stephanie Looi has juggled a corporate career with volunteering for the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). Though she was not always fascinated by fire, her move to Sydney and a desire to give back led to deployments through NSW and across state borders as a deputy local brigade captain, a remote area firefighter and a helicopter rescue crew officer.

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people. Safety and respect should be valued over top-down leadership— when everyone feels respected and listened to, everyone wins.

ADVERSITY: What hardships or challenges have you had to overcome?

Everyone has hardships so I can only speak for myself. I’ve found that the overt sexism is less than when I first joined the NSW RFS. The biggest challenge I face today is how society is set up structurally for men, which can have unintended consequences.

For example, having shared changing areas. Women must choose between changing in front of male co-workers or finding another space in a back room or upstairs. This can slow their response and they may miss out on ‘front seat’ opportunities.

Similarly, women are typically responsible for caregiving, and arranging childcare at short notice or out of hours is difficult. Childcare can also pose difficulties for undertaking long-term training courses or multiday deployments, so more flexibility is needed. Everybody should be able to bring their whole self to work, but I don’t believe we are there yet. A command leadership style is needed to succeed in firefighting, but this may not always be the best way to motivate

ACHIEVEMENT: What do you see are the greatest highlights and rewards of your career?

I have had incredible experiences I would never have dreamed of. Being a part of Bronnie Mackintosh’s ‘Girls on Fire’ program and talking to young women who are considering a career in the fire services is most rewarding.

I love being able to show them my own experience of having a successful ‘other’ career alongside firefighting.

Operationally, over the 2019–20 bushfire season, we did lots of flying.

Like everyone else, there were plenty of rough times, but on one deployment, I took an Army crew down to the Victorian border. We had the door open, and I was harnessed in the door of this gigantic machine as we were scoping the job, and I had this ‘wow’ moment where I thought to myself, “I’m a middle-aged mum, how did this happen?!”

It’s definitely not what I expected to be doing, but it gives me the opportunity to give back to community, which I think is important.

PHOTO: DEFENCE ASSISTANCE TO THE CIVIL COMMUNITY

Stephanie Looi says to look at what is around you, what you like to do and know your options so that you can seek out opportunities.

ADMIRATION: Who have been your greatest heroes or champions of your career?

Women and Firefighting Australasia (WAFA) has been life-changing and shifted my view of my role as more than ‘just a vollie’. Meeting inspiring people, like WAFA board member Donna Wheatley, and seeing their courage in their careers showed me that I was part of a community who had the ability to influence change in my own, and other services. Chief of Fire and Aviation at Yosemite National Park Kelly Martin’s presentation to the 2018 WAFA conference about testifying before a government committee on sexual assault and harassment was amazing. I vividly remember her description of realising as

the plane took off that she was putting her career and entire community on the line to make it better for those coming after her. Could I be that brave?

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AMBITION: What advice would you give to women wanting to start or accelerate their career in the fire and emergency services sector?

Even as a volunteer, it’s important to explore what you can do. There are lots of paths that aren’t ‘mainstream’ and could be overlooked. Look at what is around you, what you like to do. Know your options so that you can seek out opportunities.

Decide what you want to do, work out what you need to get there, and find mentors to support you. Use the tools like development plans to achieve your goals, keep engaged, learn new skills and get experience. It is the role of good leaders to support and enable you, so seek them out.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

1

PHOTO: US DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

PHOTO: CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

2

PHOTO: US DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

PHOTO: US DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

3

PIONEERING AIRCRAFT HANGAR TESTS—1930 BARRY LEE OAM

The 1920s saw vigorous debate about the adequacy of automatic sprinklers for aircraft hangar fires. Sections of the aviation industry were doubtful that water could be used effectively on aircraft hangar fires when petrol leaked and spread on the floor and beneath aircraft. It was contended that the high combustibility of the aircraft wings—due to the flammable nature of the material ‘dope’1 with which they were coated and the practice of storing aircraft with wings overlapping—reduced the possibility of fire extinguishment by water.

In 1930 it was agreed to conduct fire tests overseen by the Aeronautics Branch of the US Department of Commerce. These were run by the Bureau of Standards in a Washington, DC, wood-framed hangar that was 20 metres wide, 24 m long and 8.5 m high. The installed sprinkler system could be configured as dry pipe,

wet pipe, open sprinklers with heat actuators or open sprinklers with floor spray nozzles. The test program, conducted during April and May 1930, included a series of petrol leakage and spill scenarios with different sprinkler system arrangements, and used retired Vought, Douglas and Boeing biplanes. It confirmed that sprinkler systems with adequate water supplies, installed and maintained in accordance with recognised good practice, could control most of the fires likely to occur in aircraft hangars/aircraft of that era.

The Washington tests were followed in 1951 by a further series conducted under the auspices of the UK Air Ministry in Sutton-on-Hull, Yorkshire.

It was noted then that the 1930 tests involved aircraft of wood and doped fabric construction, whereas by the 1950s, the problem involved much larger hangars of considerable height, of steel or steel-and-concrete construction, housing all-metal aircraft of far greater size than any used in

Aerospace technology (and hangar fire protection) has come a long way since 1930: 21 January 1990 was the 20th anniversary of the first scheduled flight of a Boeing 747. Between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm GMT, there were 342 Boeing 747s actually in the air across the world. That represented as many as 143,640 people aloft, equal to the population of a decent-sized city.

Including fuel, luggage, passengers and metal, it meant that 140,220 tons was in flight—part of a steady, regular traffic of people and cargo that, day and night, circumnavigates the globe with remarkable ease.

– Clive Irving, 1994, Wide-body: Making of the 747

the earlier American tests. The Sutton-on-Hull fire test program evaluated automatic zoned deluge systems and, generally, concluded that these were fit for purpose.

The original fire protection recommendations for the construction and protection of aircraft hangars were published by the US National Board of Fire Underwriters in 1930. The first National Fire Protection Association standard on aircraft hangars (NFPA 409) was adopted in 1954, and has been regularly updated ever since.

The current edition is dated 2016 and is the standard reference for work on the topic—but it is worth remembering that it has much of its genesis in those 1930 and 1951 tests.

1. Valve room housing control valves, gauges and air compressor.

2. Sprinklers drenching starboard wings.

3. Floor sprayers discharging water in test number ten.

1 Cellulose nitrate or cellulose acetate dissolved in thinners.

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READERS’ CORNER Readers’ Corner is a new section of Fire Australia that allows members of our audience to share with the broader readership.

Our first entry is from ACT Volunteer Brigades Association President Allison Ballard.

ABLAZE: BLACK SUMMER THROUGH THE VOLUNTEER LENS

Below: Awestruck – preparing for the long battle ahead.

In July 2020, the ACT Volunteer Brigades Association (ACTVBA) Vice President Matt Dutkiewicz, a volunteer firefighter with the Rivers Brigade of the ACT Rural Fire Service (ACTRFS), proposed a book to document the 2019–20 bushfire season.

The book would provide volunteers with a great opportunity to debrief about a long and devastating season, particularly given most normal debriefing opportunities had been interrupted by pandemic restrictions.

The ACTVBA asked members from the ACT’s eight volunteer firefighting brigades to send in their photos from the frontlines. Just over 700 photos, received from more than 80 firefighters,

were selected by popular vote for inclusion.

After thousands of hours of work, both offline and through countless Zoom meetings, the book committee’s volunteer editorial team—Allison Ballard, Matt Dutkiewicz, Gary Hooker (Guises Creek Brigade) and Mark Zorzi (Rivers Brigade)—produced a beautiful 400-plus-page hardcover photo-journal coffee table book, Ablaze: the long, hot summer of 2019–2020. Canberra’s volunteer firefighters reflect on ‘Black Summer’.

The book was launched on 26 September 2021, and all ACTRFS members who were active with their brigades during the 2019–20 season were given a complimentary copy of the limited first edition.

Ablaze tells the story of how our firefighters worked on fires along the eastern seaboard, from Queensland throughout NSW, from the beginning to the end of that devastating season.

The book was a means of not only recognising and thanking our volunteers, but also showing how the small jurisdiction of the ACT really punches above its weight in helping communities across Australia.

Association President, Allison Ballard Volunteer firefighter with ACTRFS’s Molonglo Brigade

The second edition of Ablaze: the long, hot summer of 2019–2020 is available for pre-order from the ACTVBA website: https://www. actvolunteerbrigadesassociation.com/ shop. All funds go to the ACTVBA to support ACTRFS volunteer firefighters.

To share your letter to the editor, opinion, photos or stories with Fire Australia’s Readers’ Corner contact magazine@fpaa.com.au.

PHOTO: GARY HOOKER

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CALENDAR FPA AUSTRALIA EVENTS

FPA Australia runs a variety of technical events catering to the fire protection industry. Topics cover the breadth of the sector—wet systems, dry systems, passive fire, mechanical fire protection, special hazards, bushfire, emergency planning—and provide useful opportunities for practitioners to pick up continuing professional development points. Presented by leading experts, our technical webinars provide all the information you need about relevant fire safety topics. Recent topics have covered bushfire policy, baseline data, accreditation, structural steel, bushfire recovery, emergency management, fire engineering and smoke control interfaces with mechanical systems, and there are many more topics in the pipeline. With COVID-19 restrictions easing this year, we are planning to reintroduce in-person events to reach out to, and reconnect with, members and non-members.

A full list of upcoming events be found at www.fpaa.com.au/events.aspx.

It is a great way to access technical content in your own time and at your own leisure, without having to interrupt your workday.

To see our recorded webinars visit www.fpaaplus.com.au.

NATIONAL MEMORIAL SERVICE

AFAC will hold a memorial service on Friday 6 May 2022 at the National Emergency Services Memorial in Canberra to honour the courage and sacrifice of those who have died in the line of duty.

The service is a free event, open to AFAC Members and the general public. Those unable to attend the event in Canberra can livestream the ceremony online.

More information can be found at www.memorial.afac.com.au.

AFAC22 CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION

FPA+

Fire practitioners are busy people who cannot always make time to attend a live event. For this reason, FPA Australia has made its recorded webinars available through a new online portal, FPA+.

This user-friendly website allows members and non-members alike to purchase our content and catch up on any events they have missed, earning continuing professional development points in the process. Free FPA Australia webinars can also be accessed through the portal, providing access to popular topic areas such as the requirements of the Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme.

AFAC22 powered by INTERSCHUTZ exhibition returns to Adelaide with access to over 100 conference presenters from 23 to 26 August 2022. You will hear from international and local thought leaders across our multi-streamed AFAC conference, featuring the Institution of Fire Engineers (Australia) National Conference and the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference. AFAC22 features the industry’s most impressive range of exhibitors covering all facets of emergency management equipment, technology and services.

Find out more at www.afacconference.com.au.

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MOVERS AND SHAKERS

LIZ CONNELL

GEORGIE CORNISH

STUART ELLIS

GREG LEACH

NATALIE MACDONALD

ROB SANDFORD

Liz Connell has been appointed Deputy Chief Officer at the SA State Emergency Service (SASES). She is the first female to be appointed in this role at the SASES. She has many years of experience in senior roles in state and local government and a strong background in emergency management.

Recently, she coordinated the Independent Review into the NSW 2020–21 flood event.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Commissioner Greg Leach has been appointed to the AFAC Board. He joined QFES in December 2019, and with 33 years’ experience in the emergency services, he is a highly regarded emergency services executive with both country and metropolitan fire and ambulance services.

Georgie Cornish has been appointed SA Country Fire Service (CFS) Deputy Chief Officer. She is well-known and well-respected both within and outside the organisation, with more than a decade’s experience working across government and four years with the CFS. Ms Cornish will be the CFS’s first female Deputy Chief Officer.

Country Fire Authority (CFA) CEO Natalie MacDonald has been appointed to the AFAC Board. Sha started her role with CFA in February 2021 and was previously the Vice-President (Strategy and Development) at La Trobe University, where she focused on forward strategy of the university and the transformation of its campuses to create economic growth, community value and high-quality research, teaching and student life environments.

Stuart Ellis has retired from the position of AFAC CEO. His retirement concludes a highly distinguished and dedicated career spanning 40 years of service to Australia as both a senior executive leader and senior defence officer. Mr Ellis was appointed CEO of AFAC in 2012 and remained passionate about improving the professional standing of fire and emergency personnel, and progressing an industry-wide, integrated approach to emergency management.

Rob Sandford has retired from the position of Deputy Chief Officer at SA Country Fire Service (CFS). With over 15 years of service at CFS, he has a demonstrated history of working in the public safety industry and contributed to the sector through his skills in crisis management, government, law enforcement, emergency management and disaster response.

JOINT EDITORS PAUL WATERHOUSE (FPA AUSTRALIA)

FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION AUSTRALIA (FPA AUSTRALIA)

AFAC ABN 52 060 049 327

Tel +61 3 8892 3133 paul.waterhouse@fpaa.com.au

ABN 30 005 366 576 PO Box 1049 Box Hill VIC 31 Australia

Level 1, 340 Albert Street East Melbourne VIC 3002 Australia

ALANA BEITZ (AFAC) Tel +61 3 9418 5233 alana.beitz@afac.com.au

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Tel +61 3 8892 3133 Fax +61 3 8892 3132 magazine@fpaa.com.au www.fpaa.com.au

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Tel +61 3 9419 2388 Fax +61 3 9419 2389 afac@afac.com.au www.afac.com.au

TO SUBMIT A CONTRIBUTION OR TO ADVERTISE IN FIRE AUSTRALIA, PLEASE CONTACT:

PAUL WATERHOUSE FPA AUSTRALIA TEL +61 3 8892 3133 magazine@fpaa.com.au PRODUCTION AND DESIGN: CORETEXT Tel +61 3 9670 1168 www.coretext.com.au

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