Bushfire Emergency Response in Australia - Case Study Example

Bushfire Emergency Response in Australia Name Student ID Course Instructor Date Bushfire Emergency Response in Australia Introduction Bushfires are very common events in Australia during dry seasons. Every year, the country experiences huge losses from bushfire. The fire results to property destruction and death of many people and animals (Bond & Mercer, 2014, p.8). Majority of the Australian fire breakouts are often named depending on the day they occurred. Such names include the Ash Wednesday and the Black Saturday. The black Saturday bushfires refers to events of fires that broke out across Victoria State in Australia during seasons of harsh weather conditions in early 2009 (Baker et al, 2012, 130). The fire consumed more than 450,000 hectares of land within a period of four weeks. More than 2,000 homes got destroyed and led to destruction of various local towns. The fire was put out by more than 5,000 fire fighting staff (Bond & Mercer, 2014, p.12). Australia is the only region in the whole globe that has experienced the worst and most devastating bushfires. Global warming tends to worsen the possibility of bushfire occurrence and more danger is anticipated to come. Bushfire generally refers to uncontrolled, unpredictable fire that burn grass, scrubs, forests and bushed areas. There are various governmental strategies established to deal with the bushfire tragedy. However, there is need for development of more programs. This paper seeks to discuss the government efforts in assisting the Australian deal with the bushfire issues with regard to recommendations. Australian bush fire management in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government There have been numerous responses to bushfire tragedy such as community education, donations and grants, global aid efforts, and government intervention. After the 2009 bushfire, the federal government underwent suspension due to emergency. The members of the Australian Defence Force were sent out to assist the affected civilians in Victoria. Various states made donations to Australia. Queen Elizabeth 11 donated to the Australian Red Cross team (McLennan & Handmer, 2012, p.7). The general responsibility to suppress bushfires in the Australian Capital Territory government (ACT) lies in the Emergency Services Agency (ESA) and particularly the ACT Rural Fire Service. The ACT Parks and Conservation Service has a specific role to ensure the management of bushfire fuel in its region and limit fire spread these lands.PCS has a devoted fire management sector and a huge fire put out capacity in form of PCS employees (Watson et al, 2012, p. 760). Majority of PCS employees undergo firefighting training in the work role and undergo high quality training. All PCS firefighter are required to uphold their skills and capability by attending frequent continuous training, vulnerability elimination activities, and yearly evaluations and workshop. PCS fire vehicles are designed in an easily identifiable manner and they provide the ACT ESA with skilled firefighting personnel that include executive incident managers, incident preventers, rural region fire personnel team, aerial spies, bushfire trend assessors, and destroyed region recovery personnel (Morgan et al, 2010, p.48). Crews are alert and accessible for emergency response all through the bushfire season. ACT Parks have representatives in the Forest Fire Management Group (FFMG) which is a commission developed under the Primary Industry Ministerial Council structure. FFMG was given its role by the Council of Australian Government (COAG) to form the National Bushfire Management Policy Statement for Forests and Rangelands. The policy takes notice of the fire’s significant role in the Australian biodiversity and seeks to determine a more synchronized strategy for handling the bushfire risk with enhanced investment in preventive measures and community awareness (Eriksen et al, 2010, p.341). The Prime Ministers of all Australian states have endorsed the manuscript and it is believed to result to quality stratagem for all Australian Agencies dealing with the bushfire issue. National environment law The national environmental law refers to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). This act controls activities that affect the matters that are nationally protected. The two major bushfire management activities covered in this role include fire fighting and fire prevention. The national environment law apply to fire fighting activities in that; it does not restrict the responses needed for the management of bushfire emergency and does not restrict the strategies taken to manage the fire (Haynes et al, 2010, p. 190). In some instances, bush fire has some significant effects on majority of the nationally protected matters such as; back burning; fire breakup clearings, and access to emergency vehicles (Eriksen et al, 2010, p.340). If the activities are elements of the emergency reaction, they are not affected by the national environmental law. The national environment law has recommended the inclusion of nationally protected matters in the bushfire management strategies and the remote operational mapping. When an emergency occurs, and legal approval is required before any actions are carried out, the federal environment minister has the mandate to issue an imperative exception if the issue at hand is of national interest. Bushfire prevention strategies that do not require the approval from the National environment law include; frequent bush fire fuel diminution, localized weed management, and frequent maintenance of fire equipments and infrastructure. ‘Caring for our Country' funding program. The Australian government has established Bushfire Mitigation Fund which provides funding for the development, and maintenance of fire trail routes. The Bush Fire Mitigation fund is controlled by the Department of Transport and Regional Services. The Natural Heritage Trust aims at restoring Australia’s natural resources (the agency is currently incorporated in the Caring for our Country' funding program). The Agency focuses on the restoration of the Australian natural look and the preservation of the environment and other indigenous resources. The COAG National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management understands the significance of fire authority, alleviation, and recuperation. There have been recommendable efforts in the dealing with fire related issues though the remote resource planning under the National Heritage Trust. The Australian and the regional government play a role in the enforcement of natural resource planning established by the Natural Heritage Trust (MacDougall et al, 2014, p. 260). The Agency ensures consistency in the modern and the future according the set standards and rules. This Agency seized to exist in the year 2008 and its actions were incorporated in the ‘caring for our country’ funding program. Additionally, the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council has established policies for the protection of reserved areas in Australia. With regard to these policies, the states and the territories have come up with managing outline which includes fire prevention and management. This program has established effectual communication with other related agencies dealing with bushfire prevention and management. It is vital for hazard alertness and for effectual risk communication. Conclusion The Australian government has implemented various recommendations with the efforts to prevent and manage fire strategies in the vulnerable regions. Majority of the Governmental fire management agencies aim at reducing the risk. The ACT government ensures the management of bushfire fuel in its region and limit fire spread these lands. PCS has a devoted fire management sector and a huge fire put out capacity. The National Environmental law does not restrict the matters that are nationally protected when bushfire hazards are associated. The Natural Heritage Funds aims at restoration and management of the Australian natural resources through strategies that include bush fire management and prevention. There are additional measures which involve effectual communication in the case of an emergency (MacDougall et al, 2014, p. 252). Persuasive Brochure Government Action against Bushfire Australia is the most vulnerable regions to bushfire in the world. The tragedy has resulted to loss many human lives, properties and regional towns. The most tragic events of bush in Australia include the black Saturday and the Ash Wednesday. With current situations of global warming, the risk of bush fire occurrence is anticipated to increase. The Commonwealth of Australia was established in the 1990s under the British colony. Australia is ruled under the federal system where powers are shared between the central government and single states. It has six state governments (MacDougall et al, 2014, p. 250).The Australian central government has made numerous efforts to prevent and manage bushfire tragedies. The central government works with the territory governments to reach the most vulnerable remote regions of the country. The Australian Capital Territory ensures effectual fire management within various regions. The ACT requires the Parks and Conservation Service to play specific roles to ensure the management of bushfire fuel in its region and limit fire spread. The PCS works to eliminate bushfire fuel. To qualify to a PCS staff, one has to undertake fire fighting training and other frequent assessments. The ACT Parks work jointly with the Forest Fire Management Group (FFMG). FFMG works under the Council of Australian Government (COAG) to form the National Bushfire Management Policy Statement for Forests and Rangelands (Brady & Webb 2013, p. 354). The National environmental law also plays a significant role in fire prevention and management (Howes et al, 2012).This law prohibits various activities that are national interest. However, the law endorses activities of national interest that aim at bush fire prevention and elimination. In case of an emergency that requires government approval, the federal environment minister has the mandate to issue an imperative exception if the issue at hand is of national interest. The national environmental law is advocating for the inclusion of national protected matters in the bush fire strategy management. The National Heritage Trust has been incorporated under ‘Caring for our Country' funding program. It provides the Bushfire Mitigation Fund which provides funding for the development and maintenance of fire preventive and management programs (Brady & Webb 2013, p. 353). These funds are managed by the Department of Transport and Regional Services. The Natural Heritage Trust is vital in the restoration of Australian natural beauty and heritage. The Australian regional governments enforce the restoration of natural resources via the Natural Heritage Funds. This agency encourages the protection of reserved regions in Australia. It has therefore established strategic measures to prevent and manage bushfire. All the governmental agencies for bushfire prevention and management work jointly to ensure the safety of the civilians and the Australian natural beauty. Every Australian ought to take a responsibility in the bushfire prevention and management. People living in vulnerable areas should not wait until a tragedy arises to start looking for alternative means of accommodation. Despite the numerous efforts to prevent bushfire, chances are that it will still occur due to the climatic nature of Australia and the increasing global warming. Individuals living in these areas ought to secure their properties despite the absence of tragedy signals. Bibliography Baker, I Peterson, A, Brown, G, McAlpine, C 2012, ‘Local government response to the impacts of climate change: An evaluation of local climate adaptation plans,’ Landscape and urban planning, vol. 107, no. 2, pp. 127-136. 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A comparison of bushfire fuel hazard assessors and assessment methods in dry sclerophyll forest near Sydney, Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 21(6), 755-763. Read More