Fire Protection

By Moreen Dainty

There's been a lot of slashing, mulching and burning going on of late. After a relatively wet summer, planned burns started early with the occasional billowing smoke cloud hovering over our townships and hinterland up until late April.

Most visible has been the clearance of vegetation along entire stretches of the Great Ocean Road and around our towns with the creation of new Strategic Fuel Breaks.

According to local Aireys Inlet CFA Captain, Adam Gilliver, the new fuel breaks are a very welcome development and “well overdue”. The CFA has been assisting Parks Victoria and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) with the planned burns taking place around Fairhaven, Aireys Inlet and Anglesea. He is convinced all this work will help slow the spread of fire and make our community safer.

Bill Bubb, a former Captain of Anglesea CFA for 26 years, said recently, “The last time Anglesea was this well protected from fire was 1984 (after Ash Wednesday)”. I’ve heard others express similar feelings of enthusiasm and relief at these big changes to our local landscape – but some have been angered and dismayed.

I wanted to find out more about the underlying rationale behind all this fuel reduction work, so in late April I met with a couple of representatives from

In an effort to make the community safer, the CFA has assisted DELWP with planned burns around Aireys Inlet and Fairhaven as part of a bigger fuel reduction program.

DELWP and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV).

Dave Roberts is Manager of the Otway District, and acknowledges this fuel reduction work has been confronting for some. For example, the cutting back of vegetation along the “mad mile” has created a very different feel to the drive into Anglesea.

Mechanical mulching machines have worked their way through vegetation on both sides of the Great Ocean Road leaving behind areas of deep mulch and a few sugar gum trees. Similar work has been completed from Torquay all the way through to Lorne, with the removal and trimming back of nearly 200,000 trees. One of the objectives was to prevent trees and overhanging branches blocking the road during and after a major fire event. The experience of Mallacoota residents in 2020 clearly plays on firefighters minds. The army took three weeks to open up the main road into town. Says Dave, “No preparatory work had been done, so they ended up having to take a lot more vegetation away”. He explains that another objective has been to give motorists some protection from radiant heat.

The 40-metre strategic fuel breaks not only reduce fuel loads but are important to support firefighters when they are back burning. “By cutting back the vegetation 20-40 metres from the road, we know we are giving people a fighting chance of surviving.”

The key messaging from the CFA is to leave early when the fire ratings are high. “We really don't want people on the roads at all – but at the same time, we need a back-up plan in case they are,” says Birgitte Hutchens, DELWP’s community-based bushfire management facilitator.

Like Mallacoota, many Surf Coast communities have only one route in and

one route out. Given the increasing numbers of visitors each year, authorities are understandably keen to reduce fuel levels in an area that accounts for 20 per cent of Victoria’s total fire risk.

Large bushfires, on the scale of Ash Wednesday, come through this landscape every 35-40 years. “And that's even before the effects of warmer, drier conditions associated with climate change,” adds Dave.

“Nowadays, not only do we have more day trippers to the region, we have three times the amount of housing in Aireys and Fairhaven since Ash Wednesday in 1983.” Another key activity has been the creation of 35 kilometres of new Strategic Fuel Breaks around our townships. It's the first time permanent fuel breaks have been constructed on private property to the rear of Anglesea, Aireys and Fairhaven. Getting this huge project off the ground has meant the involvement of multiple fire and land management agencies, as well as the Surf Coast Shire Council and local community groups. It’s also been backed by $1.5 million of state government funds.

A strategic fuel break is a 40-metre wide track of land that has been cleared of vegetation using specialist machinery. The publicity fact sheets distributed last year explain “not only do these breaks reduce forest fuel loads near towns, they also provide an effective boundary to support planned burns and/or backburning operations during a bushfire”. They make it easier and safer for firefighters to move in and out of areas and also help reduce their exposure to fierce, radiant heat.

“These breaks will give us a head start when the big fire comes. We've also put firebreaks around critical infrastructure such as water treatment plants and telecommunications towers, so that the community isn't shut down for months and months after a major fire event,” says Dave.

The new fuel breaks have been very deliberately placed abutting existing fuel breaks built in 2010, which were only on public land. The new breaks took about 12 weeks to complete. The planning approval process took a lot longer.

“We’ve had extensive consultation with 100 private landholders in order to gain their cooperation and agreement to allow the breaks to go ahead. “It's taken nearly two years to get all the necessary approvals in place.” Last November, demonstration breaks were built in Anglesea, Aireys Inlet and behind Lorne. Nevertheless, it was only when work was well underway that people began to fully appreciate what they looked like.

Although the breaks will soften over time and be maintained to resemble open grasslands, some legitimate concerns have been raised by community groups. Members of ANGAIR questioned the extent and standard of the works (see ANGAIR’s March newsletter for more detail via www.angair.org.au.)

Similarly, the proposed slashing of the habitat of the vulnerable Rufous Bristlebird population along the east side of Old Coach Road in Moggs Creek resulted in impassioned pleas from AIDA members, concerned for the birds' welfare and environment. Some adjustments were made after a meeting with residents in late March, but the work still went ahead. Despite the difficulties, I sense both Dave and Birgitte are genuinely willing to listen and work with the community. “We tried to liaise as best we could during COVID last year, and now that we have been able to get out and talk to people, I think it’s getting easier. We definitely want to work in partnership with groups like ANGAIR and AIDA and the community as a whole. Fire fighters and land management agencies feel strongly about this environment too! We just want to keep people safe,” said Birgitte.

The next phase of this program is to start looking at ways of reducing urban fuel loads. Peter Ashton, Emergency Management Coordinator at Surf Coast Shire, is in no doubt our communities are facing a serious challenge and threat as the risk of devastating bushfire increases across the country.

“We need to become bushfire adapted. These strategic fuel breaks are part of that journey. However, the way we maintain our houses and gardens is just as important. Simple changes can make big differences, our community needs to engage, get some advice and start to make the necessary changes,” he said.

I heard the urgency in his voice. So as soon as I stopped writing this article, I went out and started filling my green bin with garden rubbish, determined to do my bit, one week at a time, before next bushfire season arrives.