Monaro Post Fire Feature

FRIDAY January 18, 2013

BUSHFIRE

Special Edition

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Special Edition Fire Issue

2

Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Setting the scene…

Sarah Kleven Winds of up to 80 kilometres per hour, relative humidity less than 15 percent, smoke billowing on the horizon like a mushroom cloud and residents of Mt Forrest Road and Kybeyan Valley having to face the reality of evacuating their homes - that was what Tuesday January 8, brought.

With the treacherous weather throughout Tuesday and a very strong southerly change which was expected for Tuesday night, it was thought that up to 30 properties could be impacted by fire, smoke and ember threats.

By 4pm Wednesday the Yarrabin fire had torn through about 9431 hectares of land, forced

residents out of their homes and reduced properties to blackened earth and bare trees.

As evacuated residents began to return to their homes, most discovered that their houses had been spared with little damage, however not all were so lucky.

Unfortunately one home was lost on Tuesday.

Many other properties also suffered losses of farm equipment, sheds, livestock and fences.

The fire coming within metres of some houses, only saved due to the incredible efforts of the Rural Fire Service and Helicopter pilots who spent much of Tuesday water bombing houses directly in order to save them.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Cooma firies During the bushfire emergency, Cooma Town Fire Brigade was also involved.

The brigade was first called to the fire at 12.30pm on Sunday January 6 to control a grassfire at Yarrabin Homestead on Mt Forrest Road.

The fire threatened the woolshed on the property, but this was saved.

The brigade also saved property at Apple Tree Cottage and a shed on another property.

Since that time, the tanker was on call 24 hours a day, up until 3am on Sunday January 13, when the brigade was stood down.

Commander Chris Reeks said the brigade was used in support of the Rural Fire Service – its primary task was to protect property.

The brigade also called on a reserve tanker from Bombala.

On the Tuesday, the brigade was tasked to Kybeyan Valley. The brigade worked in three shifts, using two teams from Cooma and one from Jindabyne.

It also supervised the hot refuelling exercise at Snowy Mountains Airport during the emergency - this role was taken over by Jindabyne on January 13.

The brigade also provided support

personnel at the Emergency Operations Centre at Polo Flat, usually Cmdr Reeks or another member of the brigade.

Cmdr Reeks said he fielded numerous phone calls about the fire.

He attended the second community meeting at Numeralla on Sunday to explain the role of the brigade, as there was some confusion within the community.

He said while the primary role was property protection, the brigade couldn’t have a tanker at everyone’s house. The use of the Bombala tanker meant that if there was a fire emergency away from the fireground, there was equipment available to attend.

Cmdr Reeks said he expected the brigade’s role to be ongoing, as many sheds that were burnt contained chemicals which will need to be properly disposed of.

He said the brigade would be assisting landholders with this task and foresaw this lasting for quite some time.

He said all 19 members of the Cooma brigade had been involved in the fire fight, in their support role.

Speakers at the community meeting at Numeralla last Sunday; Top right: the fire fight at Yarrabin on Monday, January 7; Bottom right: Inspector Tony Hill addresses the first community meeting at Numeralla on January 9.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Barilaro applauds bush fire heroism Member for Monaro, John Barilaro, has praised the continued tireless efforts of landholders, NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW Fire Birgade and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in combating the fire activity in the Yarrabin Fire area.

“For over a week the hard work of local staff and volunteers has prevented the loss of life in the East Monaro region and brought the fire threat under control,” Mr Barilaro said.

Mr Barilaro visited the Cooma Fire Control Centre yesterday to receive a briefing on the current bush fire threat and the control measures being conducted throughout the region.

“It was a pleasure to thank RFS and NPWS staff and volunteers on behalf of the community for their tireless efforts over the last week,” Mr Barilaro said.

Mr Barilaro also visited affected landholders in the Kybeyan and Tuross valleys.

“It is incredibly distressing to hear from landholders who have lost significant tracts of productive land and much of their livestock,” Mr Barilaro said.

“However, the resilient spirit of the local residents is

something to behold, even in the midst of great tragedy this close knit community is pulling together, supporting one another and remaining vigilant to the continued fire threat.”

“The heroism of local landholders who have assisted the central fire fighting effort is worthy of particular praise and admiration, their local knowledge and expertise has played a large role in bringing the fire under control.”

Once the fire threat has passed, Mr Barilaro will facilitate a landholders meeting at Kybeyan to allow local residents to debrief about the fire incident and support each other through this difficult time.

The Yarrabin Fire remains at ‘Advice’ alert level and local residents need to be prepared for changing weather conditions.

“A potential threat for the community will remain for at least 7 days and residents in East Monaro need to remain continually watchful over this period” Mr Barilaro said.

“I would urge everybody to stay informed of the dangers posed by these fires and to listen to the advice of authorities as it continues to come through.”

“If you need to report a new fire or require urgent

Grateful thanks from mayor Cooma-Monaro Shire Mayor, Dean Lynch, said the firefighters had ‘done a great job’ in containing the Yarrabin fire.

He said he had been in the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) when the fire escaped.

“I give full credit to the local firefighters. They did their best”.

“The main concern was the preservation of life and property and considering the speed and spread of the fire, there was relatively very little damage.

“As a local government authority, council was pleased to see we were able to provide equipment and services to the Rural Fire service.

“We had three graders on the job and staff at the EOC. Luckily a Section 44 was declared early, which will allow council to

recoup the cost of the operation.

“But this side is going to be a thorn in everyone’s side until we get good rain.

Mayor Lynch also commented on the reports on the National media during the emergency, which he criticised as being sensationalist.

He said as a result he had ‘phone calls from everyone’ trying to ascertain the true picture of the fire.

He said the national media interviews had been trying, with reporters “trying to bait me” with questions about incidents which had not occurred or which were mere hearsay.

The fire at Yarrabin last week nearly claimed the woolshed. It was saved by firefighters.

Mr Barilaro receiving a briefing on the ongoing threat at Cooma Fire Control Centre. assistance, dial Triple Zero (000)” Parliamentary Secretary for Police and Emergency Services, Geoff Provest MP, will join Mr Barilaro at the Cooma Fire Control Centre and Lake George Zone Office over the next two days to receive frontline briefings on the continued fire threat and convey the appreciation of the NSW Government to the staff and volunteers.

Yarrabin Fire Emergency

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Home saved by sprinkler system Sarah Kleven Max and Coral Talbot returned home to find that the flames had come within metres of destroying their home, saved only by a sprinkler on the roof left on when they evacuated.

Although their home was fortuitously spared, the Talbot’s loss was still great, losing much of their property including machinery, fences, two sheds and two water tanks.

“The fire can’t do any more damage to us now,” said Mrs Talbot, although the fire has still been burning on parts of their property near Kybeyan nature reserve, three days after they evacuated.

On their return the Talbots found that an aluminium boat kept in their shed had been completely melted, something which would only melt at temperatures above 660 Degrees Celsius, indicating the extreme temperatures of the fire.

The Talbots didn’t suffer any loss of farm stock and they say that is due to the selfless work of their neighbours, the Litchfields, who helped transport their cattle to a safer paddock before the fire hit.

“We can only say three cheers to the fire fighters, the police, helicopter pilots, and the people in control.

“We wish everyone else in the same situation the very best of luck,” Mrs Talbot said.

The scenes of destruction at Max and Coral Talbot’s home at “Sunny Corner” Mt Forrest Road.

The house was saved by the sprinkler system which was left running when the Talbots evacuated.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

The Monaro’s big fire fight

Scenes from the bushfire fight last week in the Kybeyan and Countegany areas. Kybeyan was worst hit with stock losses and buildings destroyed. The Mt Forrest area was also severely impacted.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Techniques have changed Sarah Kleven Ian Blyton, a local Nimmitabel man who was the past captain of the Nimmitabel Fire Brigade for almost 20 years says, “Things (firefighting techniques) have changed.”

Being captain of the Nimmitabel Fire Brigade Ian watched as firefighting technology advanced throughout the years.

While Mr Blyton was captain, the brigade had only just received their first fire tanker, which was an old army Blitz.

“This is probably the biggest fire in this region, except for the 2003 fires, in 60 years,” said Mr Blyton, who has seen many large fires in his time including one which burnt at Peak View towards Jerangle and another in 1962 at the back of Adaminaby.

“We didn’t have the backup of helicopters, which they have been very lucky to have in this fire,” Mr Blyton said.

Mr Blyton reflected on the hype that the media had caused in this particular fire, saying that a lot of his neighbours felt the need to evacuate even though the fire wasn’t coming their way.

“Once you know the pattern of the winds and the terrain, fires are fairly predictable,” he explained.

Having gone through a recent operation Mr Blyton has been grounded from helping out with

the Yarrabin fire and he claims that “it’s been very frustrating not to be able to get involved.”

Mr Blyton’s son Richard has now taken up the new position of deputy captain with the Nimmitabel Fire Brigade so firefighting must definitely run in the family for this gallant father and son.

Richard Blyton has been involved in the Yarrabin bushfire since Saturday January 5.

Most of his work was dedicated to co-ordinating efforts at the Nimmitabel School where there was a call centre set up, however he has also been fighting the fire on several days throughout the week.

Mr Blyton said that most of the fire fighters at the front were from the Cooma, Nimmitabel and Numeralla fire brigades but there has been professionals brought in from away as well.

“We have had double the amount of firefighters than we usually have in the brigade due to local residents volunteering,” Mr Blyton said.

The Cooma Football Club bus is being used to take firefighters to and from the fire front at both 6am and 5:30 in the afternoon.

The tireless efforts of the firefighters, working 12-hour shifts in terrible conditions is simply amazing and can be described as nothing short of heroism.

RFS chaplain Jenni Roberts at the Nimmitabel meeting; water not quite on tap; Nimmitabel residents inspect the fire map; equipment at Nandawar; the sign at Nandawar.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Pets survive fire despite odds Sarah Kleven There are always stories of heroism, survival and hope that come out of disasters and the story of the Corey and Hynes family and of ‘Tony’ the Koala is one.

Our very own bushfire koala, just like ‘Sam’ from the Victorian bushfires, was discovered on Wednesday by Tony Corey.

Named after his rescuer ‘Tony’ the koala was found with scorch wounds on his back and was also extremely dehydrated.

Marita Hynes, Greg Corey’s partner claims “he wasn’t easy to catch and tried to scratch us but we threw a blanket over him and took him in the back of our truck.”

‘Tony’ the koala was then taken to LAOKO for care and Marita has since heard that he is just about ready to be released back into the wild.

This story highlights the plight of the many native animals, which have been lost in the recent fires, and also shows that there are incredible survival stories that come out of a disaster such as this.

Marita’s own family and their selfless efforts volunteering to fight the fires, despite her stepson and son only being teenagers, also highlights the heroism of the everyday citizens who contribute greatly in disaster situations.

“If it wasn’t for my stepson Tony we would have lost all of our livestock,” Marita said.

“Tony moved all the sheep out of the road of the fire even as the fire front was heading towards him.

He only moved at the last minute, and 10 minutes after he got out, that area he was standing in was all burnt.”

Despite heroic efforts the Hynes

and Corey family still suffered great losses to their livestock and had to put many of their sheep down.

Marita said that they are still finding injured livestock on their property days after the fire. The family also lost two farm vehicles, motorbikes, water tanks and dog kennels.

“I don’t know how we can ever repay the fire fighters and helicopter pilots who fought the fire, they even water bombed our sheep, and that was part of the reason we still have some alive.”

Marita, her daughter, stepdaughter and sister evacuated to the Galvin’s house on Tuesday morning, as many of the other families along Mt Forrest Road did, leaving her partner, son and stepson out fighting the fires through the day.

“We’re very proud of our kids, they wanted to do everything they could to protect their family and others in our area. They’ve been out there fighting the fires all week,” Marita said.

The other miracle survivors on the Corey and Hynes property were the animals left behind at their house including a cat, their chickens and a very friendly poddy calf called Shelby, surviving despite the blaze coming within metres of the house.

Although they went without water for three days, the Hynes and Corey family are back living in their house despite their close call with the ferocious fire on Tuesday.

The family is trying to get away for a break to the coast as soon as they can for a very well deserved holiday!

Pictured, Marita Hynes, Greg Corey and Tony Corey with their miracle survivor Shelby the poddy calf. Also pictured, some of the equipment destroyed by the bushfire.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

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GLEN FERGUS COOMA-MONARO Yarrabin Public Liaison Map Scale: 1 : 120,000 0 0.35 0.7 Km LEGEND Active Fire Emergency Alert Burnt Area Backburn Neighbourhood Safer Place Evacuation Centre Information Point Road Closure Health Facility

TUROSS

Aged Care Hospital - Private Hospital - Public Nursing Home

Education Facility Childcare Centre Kindergarten

CARLAMINDA

Primary School Secondary School College TAFE University

Accommodation Aged Care Camping Ground Caravan Park Club Hotel

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Plot Inform ation:

DANGELONG

Date:

15/01/2013

Time:

02:04:49

Fire Statistics: Burnt Area:

12179 Ha

Burnt Perimeter:

83 Km

Map Details: Base Data: Š LPI, SPOT, AAM, SKM, OEH, Sensis, Kattron Map Projection: GCS GDA 1994 15/01/2013 3:00:24 PM Print Date / Time: Cooma - Monaro Visitor Produced by:

WARNING INFORMATION 1. This map ha s been pre pared by a NSW Government Agency ("the Agency") using data supplied to it by other agencies and entities.

2. The Agency has not verified o r checked the data used to pr epare this map.

The map may contain errors and omissio ns.

The Agency has not made any attempt to ground truth the map.

3. There will be a margin of error in relation to the location of features re corded on the map. The Agency is unable to sp ecify the extent or magnitude of that margin of error.

4. Significant changes may have occurr ed: i. in the time b etween which the d ata was o riginally collected a nd the map produced; and ii. si nce the map was produced.

5. Users must, wher ever possible, grou nd truth th e map be fore relyin g on it or the accuracy of th e map or the information reco rded on the map for any purpose .

6. The Agency accepts no respo nsibility fo r any injur y loss or damage a rising from the use of th is map or any errors or omissions in the informati on recorde d on the map.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Galvin’s became the safe house Facing the possibility of losing her home and property, Julie Huggett evacuated on the afternoon of Tuesday January 8 to her neighbour, Lorraine Galvin’s, house on Mt Forrest Road, which was considered safe at the time.

She left behind her husband to fight the ‘out of control’ fire.

Ms Huggett arrived back at her family’s property late on Tuesday night only to discover the horrible devastation that the fire had left behind.

Luckily their house was still standing due to the amazing work of the Rural Fire Service, however they suffered losses of machinery and a great number of their livestock.

Although the fire front has now moved elsewhere “It’s just a matter of monitoring that it won’t come back the other way,” Mrs Huggett

said.

As the first house along Mt Forrest Road the Galvin’s house was considered the ‘safe house’ and became home to many of the families evacuated on Monday and Tuesday and also a menagerie of animals.

“I just can’t believe how lucky we are,” Mrs Galvin said, her property being the only one on Mt Forrest Road without any damage.

“I didn’t care who I had there,” Lorraine said.

“Your heart just goes out to the McKenzie family,” Mrs Galvin said, being the only family that has lost their house so far in the fires.

Right: The fire fight at Yarrabin.

Bottom: The Galvin’s ‘safe house’.

Below: Helicopters continue to water bomb fire hot spots.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

11

Brighter future for the McKenzies Lisa Deas Although it has only been just over a week since the young family lost their home, they are already looking to the future and seeing some positives come their way.

The family have received many generous donations in the form of teddy bears for their children all the way through to bunk beds complete with bedding.

“It’s getting a bit easier, you can still see the light,” said Geoff

McKenzie, as he stood at the front of his melted and ash sprayed home on Mt Forrest Road. “Every time I come out here I can see more and more shapes,” explained Nicole McKenzie, “The first time we came out, all I could see was ash,” she finished.

The family are slowly coming to terms with the huge amount of work they have ahead of them and are finally beginning to recognise the extent of their loss.

“We didn’t realise how much money we had put into the place, or how much we had really lost,” Nicole said.

The family insist that they will continue their life at what they now refer to as ‘the block’, and are looking forward to being able to remove the rubble and start a fresh. “I just want it gone, I just want this gone,” explained Nicole.

Their intention is to build a small house for living in whilst they gather the funds to build their big, dream home. Their property would have been one that had a fantastic view, but now it is one of the best vantage points to experience the full extent of the Yarrabin fire.

Sensei Jim McDonald has successfully secured storage for the family who can now receive donations in all forms, which will definitely assist them in getting back on their feet. In all of the hard work that Sensei McDonald has been doing to help the family, he has been met with generosity and people

who are willing to sacrifice their own time in order to donate to the cause.

Special thanks need to go to Jim Walker-Broose of 2XL, Cathy Wassink for the donation of the storage container and Chris Hannah of Westpack Bank who set up an account for the family to receive donations.

For the children the magnitude of what has happened to their family may not hit them until later years, however the loss of their brand new trampoline that they got for Christmas is something that they will never forget.

Through a donation made

by Crystal Burchall this loss has been replaced with a new trampoline that the children will no doubt enjoy every bouncing minute of.

Sensei McDonald sent in a list of all of the donations and people who have donated so far and this list

Account name: The McKenzie is extensive, which proves the Family Appeal good nature of this community.

Account number: 201675 If you wish to make a donation, BSB: 032720 then do not hesitate to call Sensei McDonald on 0419993449. The Pictured, Geoff, Nicole and family still require a lot of financial Elizabeth McKenzie; the shed support to rebuild their lives, if you wish to donate money then the after the fire; the children’s swing still hanging in a tree. account details to do so are:

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Many hands made light work Sarah Kleven Since Tuesday of last week there has not only been a massive effort from the firefighters on the fire front but also from local people working behind the scenes to support the Rural Fire Service through their horrifying and draining days.

From those situated at call centres, to the helicopter refueling team, to the women situated at the hot Nandawar Shearing Shed working around the clock to supply the firefighters returning from the front with relief, food and water.

We cannot forget those who work behind the front lines and without them the firefighters would not be able to work as they do.

“We have been overwhelmed by the donations of slices, cakes, food

and supplies from local community members,” said the ladies at the Nandawar staging area.

“We have been making up to 200 sandwiches and sausages a day.”

The ladies and even children working tirelessly have been supplying breakfast, lunch and dinner to our firefighters since last Tuesday.

A big thankyou to Liz Blyton, Margie Beattie, Taya Evans, Emily Blyton, Natasha Kessler, Libby Whiteway, Jenny Roach and Jerod Blyton who have dedicated their own time to helping out the fire effort.

Thanks also to the crew at Numeralla and to the the Rotary Food Van which served at Countegany.

Above: The ladies at work in Nandawar woolshed last Thursday; Below: cold water was essential for firefighters; Left: Nimmitabel captain Peter Lowry at Nandawar.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency

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Fire consequences When the bushfire emergency peaked on Tuesday, January 8, Mike and Sue Litchfield were at Nowra.

When they returned home to Wondallee, Countegany, that afternoon they realised there was an emergency, with a the Yarrabin/Kybeyan fire burning on their southern boundary, extreme weather conditions and not a lot of information available.

Their son, daughter-in-law and family, who live south, on the Old Kybeyan Road, had been advised to evacuate during the day, however they stayed to move stock away from the fire front.

Mike, who has been farming on the property for more than 60 years, inspected the fire situation and commenced what he and his son thought was the most appropriate action to save his home, his stock and his pasture.

However, it seemed that at every turn, Mike’s proactive attempts were thwarted by bureaucracy and today he is very disappointed at what he perceived was a lack of commonsense imposed by RFS regulations.

He still believes the fire could have been brought under control earlier, if local knowledge had been used to fight the fire in its early stages.

The massive amount of public money that has now been used to contain this fire, he feels, could have been saved if early burn backs had been approved.

Another issue is the slow response to a call made to Polo Flat on Wednesday morning reporting a fire, which was logged at 8.05am but there was no action taken until 4pm.

The family have nothing but praise for the volunteers who fought the fire on Wondallee for so many days and also the Rotary Food Van who fed so many volunteers. They did a great job in containing the fire and keeping the Countegany area safe from complete disaster.

While the Litchfields appreciate how lucky they are not to have lost any stock or buildings, they do have many

heavily dozed trails across what is essentially fragile soil. Mike estimates there is approximately 14km kilometres of fire tracks which need to be restored on the grazing country and about 4kms of the Old Kybeyan Road, his main stock access, in need of repair. In addition, there are 13 gaps cut into fences which also need to be mended before stock can be returned.

Pictured, Wondallee last Saturday.

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14

Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Fires also impact on our native animals Sarah Kleven Native animals always suffer major losses in any bushfire in Australia and the Yarrabin Bushfire is no exception.

The bush will recover over time however the intensity of this bushfire may mean that native species in that area are affected for years to come. The impact of the bushfire will continue to be felt as food sources and habitats have been burnt out and starvation may be the next threat to the rare native animals in the area.

LAOKO (Looking After our Kosciuszko Orphans) is looking after a koala as well as a possum that were luckily saved unlike many other native animals that have been lost to the bushfire.

LAOKO received the scorched and dehydrated Koala, ‘Tony’ on Wednesday night.

“He was still good and he was actually fit enough to be released,” LAOKO animal co-ordinator, Carola Vamvakaris said.

There are fears that the rare koala colonies in the Kybeyan and Yarrabin

area may have been greatly affected.

It has been recently discovered that the koala colonies in the area have quite different DNA profiles and are not affected by any of the viruses and illnesses found in other koalas in Australia.

It would be devastating if there were significant losses of these particular colonies in the fires as they are completely unique. Studies are being done on the Koalas in our region and any sightings of them in the wild should be reported to NPWS or LAOKO. Mrs Vamvakaris says that it is still too early to receive any numbers of native animal casualties, however she fears the number will be great because of the fast-moving and ferocious fire earlier in the week.

“We fear that there were a lot of casualties in the early days of the fire and that not many will have escaped,” Ms Vamvakaris said.

“We will probably start seeing injured animals appearing now as they return to their homes before the ground has cooled down. Unfortunately we haven’t

been able to enter the fire ground yet, but hope to soon which might give us a better indication of numbers lost but the RFS and DPI’s main concerns up until now have been trying to control the fire.

I guess in the next week or so things will change and we should be able to enter some areas”, she explained “We’re lucky that there are areas with a lot of feed surrounding the fire grounds however many of the native animals, especially possums and wombats are fairly territorial and will want to return”,

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Pictured, Tony the koala and, left, Tony’s scorched fur.

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she said.

Mrs Vamvakaris said that the DPI and LAOKO will be coordinating efforts if need be to care for and provide feed for injured animals returning to the stripped and blackened areas where the fire has been.

The full extent of damage to the native wildlife in the area is not expected to be known for weeks.

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To all the Volunteers, Cooma RFS & Cooma Fire Brigade

THANK YOU

to you all for all your efforts in fighting the fires in our local communities.

Yarrabin Fire Emergency

Concerns about communications During the bushfire emergency, a recurring theme at community meetings and in conversations with residents, was that of poor communications.

This was principally because of inadequate mobile phone reception across many areas of the fire area.

There were also complaints of poor radio reception, which disadvantaged people who could not hear fire updates as they were broadcast.

While the Rural Fire Service issued update regularly and these were broadcast on the local ABC, local commercial and community radios, in some areas, reception was too poor.

Mobile phone coverage is very poor in many of the areas affected by fire.

Even a larger centre such as Nimmitabel, is in a black spot. The Kybeyan Valley also has poor mobile reception. So poor that the staging centre at Nandawar woolshed had no communication, other than a landline located at the homestead.

This issue was raised at both community meetings held at Numeralla.

One resident, Lloyd Smith, has been trying to get improved communications for some time, with no success.

In an email to former State member, Steve Whan, now a member of the NSW MLC, Mr Smith stated: “We are hardly a remote area being only 22km from Cooma and 98km from Australia’s Parliament House. I am not naive in the field of communications being an international

consultant installing remote telemetry systems, radio, GPRS and satellite based.

“More recently in Laos in the SE in a remote area on the Vietnam border. In this area, there is full mobile coverage on two networks. Calls are very cheap and there is stunning coverage.

Based on these observations and those in other developing countries where I regularly work, Australia’s regional mobile communication service in 2013 is certainly third World at best and not growing”, Mr Smith said.

Last year, Mrs Smith wrote to the member for Eden-Monaro, Mike Kelly, expressing his concerns.

This was referred to the Minister for Communications, Senator Stephen Conroy.

His response to Dr Kelly was disappointing, to say the least.

His response said the ABC coverage from the Brown Mountain tower “provide adequate coverage to Cooma and Numeralla Valley” via Classic FM, Radio National and triple j.

Concerning FM radio coverage, Senator Conroy advised there were no current plans to extend the reach of the ABC’s Cooma and Bega local radio services.

In regard to mobile phones services, Senator Conroy advised “In areas that are sparsely populated or have little passing traffic, often the only commercially viable option for mobile phone services is via satellite.

He advised there are subsidies available under the Satellite Phone Subsidy Scheme.

Mr Smith has summed up Senator Conroy’s response as “no, no and never”.

15

Elm Cottage, Tumut thanks all RFS volunteers and staff

Elm Cottage, situated at Tumut.

Although not in direct line of any bushfires or danger, Elm Cottage, located just east of Tumut and nestled in the foothills of Kosciuszko National Park on the banks of the Goobarragandra River greatly appreciate all the, beyond the call of duty, efforts the Rural Fire Services staff and that volunteers engage in.

To pay tribute to efforts of the Rural Fire Services, proprietors Deborah and David Sheldon have renamed February, RFS month at Elm Cottage.

‘Understanding the heavy and dangerous workload the staff and volunteers of the RFS undertake

is impossible, one thing is for sure the people concerned put their own lives at risk ensuring our safety.’

‘Let’s not kid ourselves these guys are knackered come the end of the season, they need to relax, unwind and recharge the batteries so as a small thank you to all concerned within the RFS structure my wife Deb and I offer all RFS staff and volunteers a 50% discount on accommodation booked for February. We wish we could do more…..’ said David Sheldon.

This offer to the RFS is not just local but a state wide offer and obviously subject to availability.

Thanks from the Talbots

An equipment check and lunch at Nandawar woolshed.

Thank you to all the many people who have participated in any way to putting out the fires, of this past week Please accept our sincere thanks for the magnificient effort you all have put in over this past week of the Yarrabin Fire, without such help we believe we would not have had a home to come home to.

The sheds are gone and it will

be some time before the cattle can come back but we are just so thankful the ground crews had been pulled out so no one was burnt, the heat of the fire must have been above 640 degrees celcius since the aluminium boat and the brass paddlocks melted.

Again many thanks for a job well done.

Coral & Max Talbot.

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Yarrabin Fire Emergency 16

Bushfire Survival