Emergency Services Minister Francis Logan, on behalf of the State Government, has responded to the Western Australian Coroner’s recommendations from the inquest into the deaths of four people during the Esperance bushfires in 2015.
Overseas farm workers Tom Butcher, Julia Kohrs-Lichte and Anna Winther, and Scaddan farmer and firefighter Kym (Freddy) Curnow tragically died on November 17, 2015 during the fires.
The State Government has supported the majority, bar two, of the Coroner’s recommendations, many of which have been implemented since the McGowan Government was elected in 2017.
They include increased mitigation, greater bushfire management support for Esperance and surrounds, long-term bushfire risk mitigation funding, and enhanced radio communications for the Esperance area.
The recommendation for a career fire station in Esperance has already been addressed with a departmental resource-to-risk analysis showing there is already sufficient town-based emergency services resources.
Since the McGowan Government was elected, there has also been significant reform across bushfire management and record investment to identify and treat bushfire risks, which has benefited Esperance and the surrounding regions.
The Shire of Esperance is currently being supported by State Government funding to complete a Bushfire Risk Management (BRM) Plan, which is 95 per cent complete, and has identified nearly 2,100 assets.
That support included the assistance of a Bushfire Risk Planning Coordinator from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) to help develop the Shire’s BRM Plan.
Once the plan is complete and endorsed, the Shire of Esperance will be eligible to apply for further funding under the State Government’s Mitigation Activity Fund to treat those bushfire risks.
More than 63 local governments have accessed more than $20 million in State Government funding support to identify and reduce their bushfire risks since the two funding programs were introduced.
In addition, DFES has been transformed from solely a response agency to one that focuses on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery functions.
DFES is now leading extra mitigation, on top of the Parks and Wildlife’s annual mitigation program, and has formed a South East Fire Working Group to identify and prioritise bushfire mitigation across the Shires of Esperance, Jerramungup and Ravensthorpe.
The working group comprises representatives from DFES, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), local government and volunteers, including the Chief Bushfire Control Officers.
Since 2017/18 nearly $890,000 has been on spent on bushfire mitigation activities in the Esperance area.
Further initiatives in Esperance include an additional command repeater that was installed at Peak Charles in June 2020 to improve radio communications in the area in partnership with DBCA.
The State Government has also invested $120 million in locally made, new generation fire appliances, which include vehicle types specifically requested by Esperance firefighters to meet their local conditions.
Esperance volunteer firefighters have also been part of a Bushfire Fleet Mobility Working Group to further enhance the mobility of the firefighting fleet in the area. Key initiatives of the group include central tyre inflation systems and super single tyres.
DFES has also reduced the size of the Great Southern Region by creating the Upper Great Southern Region in Narrogin to increase the focus on the Lower Great Southern Region.
DFES has also significantly enhanced its working relationship with the Shire of Esperance by basing the Esperance Community Emergency Services Manager in the DFES Esperance office.
An administration officer is also now employed in the office and a District Officer Natural Hazards is now permanently based in the Esperance office.
In the last few years, ahead of bad fire weather, DFES has pre-positioned extra support personnel and aerial support appliances. Earthmoving machinery has also been strategically pre-positioned.
Several bushfire brigades in the area have received new fire appliances and will be receiving new model Tatra trucks in the near future.
There have also been new purpose-built facilities for the first time for the Howick and Coomalbidgup Bush Fire Brigades.
Scaddan Bushfire Brigade has a new fire shed, and the Quarry Road Bushfire Brigade and the Esperance Emergency Support Unit also have a new co-located facility.
The State Government’s response to the Coroner’s recommendations is attached.
As stated by Emergency Services Minister Francis Logan:
“Shortly after the McGowan Government was elected in 2017, I travelled to Esperance to meet with those who were involved in the 2015 bush fires.
“They described extraordinary conditions on the day that the fire tragically took the lives of Kym Curnow, Tom Butcher, Julia Kohrs-Lichte and Anna Winther.
“Since that first meeting, a significant amount of work has gone into strengthening relationships with volunteers and DFES, using resources strategically and effectively and helping locals with mitigation efforts.
“The concerns and ideas from the local volunteers have also been taken on board and this is reflected in the working groups that have been established, the new vehicles that have been delivered and the record levels of mitigation support.
“DFES has significantly increased its presence in the area to support the local government to manage bushfires and mitigate bushfire risks.
“The State Government supports the majority of the Coroner’s recommendations, which in many cases were either put in place before the inquest was held or have been done since the inquest concluded.
“I have also seen firsthand how successful the pre-positioning of assets and the enhanced DFES presence in the area has been in managing emergency-warning level bushfires in co-ordination with the local government.”
