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2 Arrangements on 7 February

 

Emergency management generally and fire management in particular require the cooperation of a large number of government and private organisations and individuals. This chapter outlines the institutional arrangements that applied on 7 February 2009, covering the structure of Victoria’s various fire agencies, private firefighting units, and emergency and incident management arrangements.

 

Three agencies are responsible for preventing and suppressing fires in Victoria—the Country Fire Authority, the Department of Sustainability and Environment, and the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board. Their organisational structures are discussed in detail in Chapter 10 of Volume II.

2.1.1    The Country Fire Authority

The CFA is responsible for prevention and suppression of fires, protection of life and property in case of fire, and general control of all stations and brigades in the ‘country area of Victoria’, which is defined in the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 as any area of Victoria that is outside the metropolitan fire district, excluding areas of forest, national park and protected land. The country area of Victoria covers more than 15,018,200 hectares and is home to about 2.5 million people, roughly 50 per cent of the state’s population; it includes outer Melbourne suburbs such as Frankston and Dandenong.1

As at 7 February the CFA had approximately 1,228 urban and rural fire brigades throughout Victoria; for administrative purposes these brigades are organised into 143 groups. Of the 1,228 brigades, 31 are integrated brigades, meaning they have both career (paid) and volunteer (unpaid) members, located in outer Melbourne or in larger regional centres. In 2009 the brigades were supported by nine area headquarters that provided direct operational support through 20 regions. The number of regions is to be reduced to eight, to align with the Victorian Government’s Fairer Victoria boundaries.2 Figure 2.1 shows the regions as they existed in 2009.

 

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As at 28 January 2010 the CFA had comprised 1,953 employees. Of these, 1,461 were employed full time, 150 part time and 342 casually. Of the full-time staff, 797 were current serving CFA volunteers and about 520 were career firefighters. As at 31 March 2010 there were almost 60,000 volunteers—47,836 male and 11,836 female. The position of group officer is the most senior volunteer rank.4

2.1.2    The Department of Sustainability and Environment

DSE is responsible for prevention and suppression of fires on Crown land and in areas for which DSE has legislative responsibility, such as parks, forests, some reserved land and all unreserved public land. This represents more than one-third of the area of Victoria—some 7.7 million hectares.5

Land and Fire Management is the branch of DSE that is responsible for implementing the department’s land and fire management functions. It manages a range of bushfire prevention and preparedness activities, bushfire suppression and recovery activities, and biodiversity and ecosystem protection.6

DSE has entered into agreements with other state agencies—predominantly those with land and fire management skills and responsibilities—to provide resources to help DSE in its fire prevention and suppression role. This has resulted in the formation of the Networked Emergency Organisation, or NEO, which consists of staff from agencies such as Parks Victoria, the Department of Primary Industries, VicForests, Melbourne Water and the Department of Planning and Community Development.7

DSE’s fire management equipment and resources are primarily designed for forest firefighting. Immediately before 7 February 2009 the department had 2,347 personnel available, 569 being ready for immediate deployment and the balance being held for surge capacity during the day, for night shift or for the days immediately following. Melbourne Water has a further 100 firefighters. DSE operates in five fire regions and 18 fire districts—see Figure 2.2.8

 

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Throughout this part of the report, reference is made only to control agencies. Typically, if a fire starts or is burning on private land the CFA is the control agency; if a fire states or is burning on public land DSE is the control agency. DSE incident management teams and firefighting crews can consist of both DSE and NEO staff.10

2.1.3    The Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board

The MFB is responsible for the provision of fire safety, fire suppression and fire prevention services and emergency response services in the ‘metropolitan fire district’. This district uses as its starting point all areas within 16.09 kilometres of the Melbourne GPO. The metropolitan fire district currently covers about 1,200 square kilometres; it has a resident population of more than 2 million, increasing to more than 3 million during business hours.11

There are 47 fire stations in the metropolitan fire district. In 2008–09 the MFB employed 1,731 operational staff, 270 corporate employees, 60 temporary staff, and 14 trainees and apprentices. In Melbourne, 269 firefighters are on duty at any one time, although additional off-duty staff can be rostered on for high-risk bushfire days.12

 

Individual landholders’ responsibility for fires on their own land has always been a part of Victoria’s fire-related arrangements. In 2009 this service was provided through industry brigades and private farm units.

Industry brigades

Forest plantation companies are required by law to maintain local forest industry brigades. The primary purpose of these brigades is to provide the appliances and personnel necessary for managing and protecting the company’s forest resources; as a result, brigade members have specific skills in managing forest fire. In 2009 there were 24 forest industry brigades, with 717 members, registered in Victoria. The brigades can have a broader role in fire suppression in their local communities, and when this occurs they come under the operational control of the CFA.13

For example, Hancock Victorian Plantations, which has seven forest industry brigades registered with the CFA, made an important contribution to the firefighting effort on 7 February. On that day HVP had fire tower observers in position, a first-attack helicopter on standby at Latrobe Valley Airport, 12 firefighters patrolling for arson activity, and a surveillance plane flying a circuit around the Latrobe Valley. Personnel were located at a number of HVP depots, and heavy machinery (including bulldozers and a grader) was on standby. HVP’s Churchill office had coordinators, a logistics officer, a mapping officer and support staff ready for deployment to any fire that might break out.14

The HVP surveillance plane assisted the CFA in reconnaissance work during much of the afternoon of 7 February, and the first-attack helicopter was involved in protecting homes in the path of the Churchill fire. HVP resources were also deployed to the fireground; initially this entailed a fire commander with a support person, 19 firefighters, three tankers, five slip-on units and two bulldozers. Resources were sent to Yarram later in the day, and throughout the day an HVP liaison officer was located at the Traralgon Incident Control Centre.15

Private farm units

It is customary in Victoria for members of the community to attend fires with their own equipment to help protect their property and that of others. Often it is farmers and graziers who do this; they keep firefighting equipment on their property.16

Private farm units are usually not formally organised but operate in support of the local CFA. They often arrive at fires before the CFA because they are responding from nearby farms. They are an integral element of the fire response, particularly in western and central Victoria. The Guidelines for Operating Private Equipment at Fires provide information for private individuals so that they can broaden their knowledge of fire behaviour, hazards and suppression techniques. Guidance on the use of equipment, communications and protective clothing is also provided.17

Comprehensive emergency management involves safety strategies to reduce personal injury and loss of life, property and the environment, and to help people recover and continue with their lives. These activities involve the combined expertise and resources of emergency services organisations, government agencies, private organisations, municipal councils and the community.18

2.3.1    COMMONWEALTH arrangements

The Commonwealth Government has a limited operational role in emergency management in Australia: constitutionally, primary responsibility for protecting life, property and the environment lies with the states and territories. The Commonwealth does, however, support the states and territories in developing their capacity for dealing with emergencies, including providing some funding and performing a coordination role.19

The Commonwealth provides physical assistance only when asked to do so by the states or territories. Historically, the Australian Defence Force has played an important role in providing such assistance.20

2.3.2    Victorian arrangements

The state’s emergency management arrangements are the basis for the response by Victoria’s fire agencies. The legislation provides for planning and preparation by state and municipal authorities in order to prevent, respond to and recover from emergencies.

The arrangements discussed in the remainder of this section are those that applied on 7 February 2009.

The Emergency Management Act

The Emergency Management Act 1986 was enacted after the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983. It is Victoria’s primary piece of emergency management legislation, providing the foundation for the state’s emergency management arrangements. These arrangements are based on an ‘all hazards, all agencies’ approach, ensuring that the central elements of prevention, response and recovery are effectively organised and coordinated by the relevant agencies.21

‘All hazards’ recognises that all emergencies cause similar problems and that many of the measures required to deal with them are generic to all such events. The approach also recognises that many risks require specific prevention, response and recovery measures:

•       Prevention seeks to eliminate or reduce the incidence and severity of emergencies and to mitigate their effects.22

•       Response relates to combating emergencies and the provision of rescue and immediate relief.23

•       Recovery aims to help affected communities and people in the aftermath of an emergency. It focuses on returning these communities and people to an effective level of functioning.24

‘Emergency’ is defined broadly by the Emergency Management Act and extends to an emergency that endangers the safety of any person, the environment or property in Victoria. Emergencies include fires, road accidents, wind storms and disruption to essential services.25

Under the Act the Minister for Police and Emergency Services is the Coordinator in Chief of Emergency Management. The Coordinator in Chief is required to ensure that adequate emergency management steps are taken to coordinate the activities of government agencies. The Coordinator in Chief must appoint the Chief Commissioner of Police as the Deputy Coordinator in Chief.26

The Act also details the following:

•       the roles and responsibilities of DISPLAN, or, as it is more commonly known, the State Emergency Response Plan27

•       the roles and responsibilities of recovery planning and management28

•       the responsibilities of local councils, including provisions relating to municipal emergency management plans29

•       the standards for prevention and management of emergencies30

•       provisions for and the effect of declaring a state of disaster31

•       the declaration of emergency areas and powers in relation to this—areas of an emergency from which it is necessary to exclude people to ensure public safety, the security of the premises or the safety of people engaging in emergency-related tasks.32

The Emergency Management Manual Victoria

The Emergency Management Manual Victoria guides implementation of aspects of the Emergency Management Act. It is maintained by the Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner in collaboration with various agencies.33

The manual integrates the main policy and planning documents for emergency management in Victoria. It provides information and guidance on Victorian emergency management arrangements, outlines the roles of various organisations, and details the planning and management arrangements that bring all the different elements together.34

The State Emergency Response Plan

The Emergency Management Act provides for the development and maintenance of the State Emergency Response Plan. As Coordinator in Chief of Emergency Management, the Minister for Police and Emergency Services must arrange for preparation and review of the plan.35

The SERP describes the organisational arrangements for coordinating the response to any emergency affecting, or with the potential to affect, Victoria.36 Its response management arrangements operate on the basis of three principal management tasks:

•       command—directing the members and resources of an agency in the performance of the agency’s role and tasks

•       control—the overall direction of response activities in an emergency

•       coordination—bringing together agencies and resources to ensure an effective response to an emergency.37

The SERP identifies the agencies primarily responsible for managing specific types of emergencies and describes how the activities of agencies supporting that primary agency will be coordinated in an emergency.38

Facilities, roles, functions and plans

Figure 2.3 shows the various reporting relationships between the agencies involved in emergency management on 7 February 2009.

 

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2.3.3    THE STATE LEVEL

The State Emergency Response Coordination Centre

The State Emergency Response Coordination Centre is activated when an emergency affects more than one police region; it operates from the Victoria Police Centre. From within the SERCC, police and liaison officers of control and support agencies receive, collate, analyse and disseminate intelligence to other emergency response agencies, the general public and the media. On 7 February the SERCC focused on police operations.40

The State Emergency Response Coordinator

The State Emergency Response Coordinator is the Chief Commissioner of Police. This person is responsible for coordinating the activities of all agencies that have a role in responding to an emergency.41

The Emergency Services Commissioner

During a major emergency the Emergency Services Commissioner, as the expert emergency management advisor to the Victorian Government, facilitates the activities of the Victoria Emergency Management Council Coordination Group, as well as attends meetings of the Central Government Response Committee and the Security and Emergencies Committee of Cabinet.42

The integrated Emergency Coordination Centre

In February 2008, as a result of a recommendation made in the report of the Inquiry into the 2002–03 Victorian Bushfires, the CFA and DSE began a trial of integrating their state coordination functions in the newly created integrated Emergency Coordination Centre. This trial was still in progress on 7 February 2009. On that day the role of the iECC was ‘to support information sharing, enable intelligence gathering and joint situation analysis between agencies, to inform fire control and coordination, and agency command actions related to the management of the fire event’.43

Chief Officers

Each of DSE and the MFB has as its senior operational head a Chief Fire Officer. The CFA’s senior operational head is a Chief Officer. During a fire these officers are responsible for the command of all their firefighting resources, both permanent career staff and volunteers.44

2.3.4    The regional level

Emergency services

Integrated fire agency coordination centres

An integrated fire agency coordination centre is a centre where strategic preparedness for and management of incident responses, together with allocation of agency resources, are resolved and agreed in accordance with the partnership arrangements between the CFA and DSE. The objective of the IFACC is to support integrated coordination and responses between the CFA and DSE. The location of such a centre is determined by the Chief Officers of the CFA and DSE on the basis of the requirements of the fire area in question. IFACCs were established for some but not all fires on 7 February.45

Incident Controllers

An Incident Controller is the senior member of an incident management team and can be based in the field at an incident control point or at an incident control centre. They are responsible for all action taken to control an incident and are required to manage relationships with organisations and personnel outside the AIIMS structure (see ‘Incident management’, later in this chapter, for information about AIIMS) and with organisations, communities and individuals affected or likely to be affected by the incident.46

Being responsible for overall management of the fire response, the Incident Controller has three main functions:

•       establishing effective liaison and cooperation with all relevant people

•       managing the incident effectively and efficiently including setting and achieving incident objectives

•       establishing systems and procedures designed to maximise the safety and wellbeing of all personnel working at the incident.47

Incident control centres

Incident control centres are pre-planned static locations where the Incident Controller for a particular emergency situation and the appointed members of the incident management team provide overall direction of the response to the situation. An incident control centre can be established for any incident, regardless of size. There should be only one incident control centre per incident, no matter how many agencies are involved. Its location will usually be determined by the control agency.48

Regional emergency coordination centres

Each of the 20 CFA regions and five DSE regions in Victoria has a regional emergency coordination centre. RECCs monitor and support incident management teams and incident control centres in their management of incidents, obtain and coordinate resources for incidents in the region and support others in the state, liaise with other agencies as necessary, and provide information and updates to the integrated Emergency Coordination Centre. This can include issuing fire information releases. One crucial function of a RECC is to ensure that resources are available to respond to any new incidents in its region.49

The police: facilities, roles, functions and plans

Divisional emergency coordination centres

Divisional emergency coordination centres operate in the same way as the State Emergency Response Coordination Centre but at the police divisional level rather than the state level. Emergency response coordinators and liaison officers of the relevant agencies coordinate the provision of resources; receive, collate, analyse and disseminate intelligence; and conduct operations ancillary to those of an emergency operations centre. An emergency operations centre can be established to perform the command functions of a response agency or the control functions of a control agency—for example, a police operations centre.50

Divisional emergency response coordinators

In the event of an emergency a senior police officer is appointed the Divisional Emergency Response Coordinator and is responsible for coordination of resources or services in a division and for providing situation reports to the State Emergency Response Coordinator.51

Local government

Municipal emergency management plans

Under the Emergency Management Act, each council is required to prepare a municipal emergency management plan. MEMPs should take into account each type of potential emergency and develop generic principles and arrangements that can be activated on any occasion.52

An integral part of a council’s strategic planning framework, the MEMP is a record of emergency management arrangements. It records matters such as the following:

•       important geographic and demographic information about the municipality

•       the results of emergency risk analyses

•       outlines of risk-reduction strategies

•       information about public awareness and education campaigns and other actions taken to increase community resilience

•       arrangements for the management of response and recovery activities

•       contact details for council staff and other personnel needed during an emergency

•       information about access to resources that are owned or controlled by the council and are available for prevention, response and recovery activities—including the contact details for suppliers.53

Municipal emergency response coordinators

Municipal emergency response coordinators are local police officers. They coordinate support resources by attending the Municipal Emergency Coordination Centre, ensuring that the Municipal Emergency Resource Officer is in a position to provide access to municipal resources. They report to the Divisional Emergency Response Coordinator.54

Municipal emergency resource officers

Municipal Emergency Resource Officers provide access to municipal resources and, with the Municipal Emergency Response Coordinator, advise the Divisional Emergency Response Coordinator on the potential outcome of the emergency.55

Municipal emergency coordination centres

A municipal emergency coordination centre is not the control centre for an emergency response; rather, it is the focus for organising any support that might be needed. It is from the MECC that personnel coordinate and organise emergency provision of council and community resources in the municipality or, by agreement, to a neighbouring district.56

The MECC also does the following:

•       monitors all operational activities for recording, debriefing and planning purposes

•       operates during larger response operations

•       operates for the relief and early recovery activities in which the council’s actions require coordination.57

The main members of the MECC are typically the Municipal Emergency Resource Officer, the Municipal Recovery Manager and liaison officers from agencies such as the CFA, DSE, Victoria State Emergency Service and the Australian Red Cross, depending on the nature of the emergency.58

Authority to activate the MECC rests with the Municipal Emergency Response Coordinator, who might consult the Divisional Emergency Response Coordinator, municipal staff or control agency staff when making the decision to activate.59

Emergency relief centres

An emergency relief centre is a place established in a safe area, away from the emergency, to support people affected by or involved in the management of an emergency. Such centres can provide first aid, catering and counselling services, as well as information and temporary accommodation.60

 

Most of the emergency management bodies and structures just described do not have a continuing role but are activated in response to an emergency. The approach taken to activating and operating these bodies in Victoria is guided by AIIMS, the Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System.

2.4.1    AIIMS

AIIMS was developed in Australia in the mid-1980s. It was modelled on the US National Inter-Agency Incident Management System, which in turn was modelled on military operational systems.61

In the early 1990s AIIMS was introduced into Australian emergency services organisations in an effort to provide more effective command, control and coordination within and between agencies. The introduction occurred because it had been recognised that incidents such as complex, fast-moving fire events require more coordinated control arrangements beyond local volunteers at the brigade and group level.62

AIIMS has mainly been used by fire and land management agencies and is currently used by the majority of emergency service organisations throughout Australia—among them the CFA, DSE, Victoria State Emergency Service and the MFB. Victoria Police uses a different incident management system, and in recent years integration of the two systems has been discussed. An integrated system was not, however, operating on 7 February.63 The AIIMS system in operation at the time of the January–February fires is described in the following paragraphs. It has since been adjusted by Victoria’s fire agencies: these changes are discussed in Chapter 2 of Volume II.

The principles of AIIMS are as follows:

•       management of incidents by objective—a process whereby the Incident Controller, in consultation with the incident management team, determines the desired outcomes of the incident

•       one controller of the incident—the Incident Controller

•       delegation of functions according to the complexity of the incident

•       span of control—generally one person directly responsible for no more than five reporting points at any time

•       development of a plan outlining strategies and tactics for dealing with the incident.64

AIIMS centres on the management functions associated with dealing with a fire or other incident. These functions are control, planning, operations and logistics. For simple incidents it is expected that one person can manage all functions concurrently. As the incident becomes more complex, however, additional personnel are engaged to perform the specialist functions and incidents are managed by an incident management team.65

Individuals gain formal competencies in one or more functions and ultimately as Incident Controllers. The level of management needed for a fire is determined after an assessment of the fire’s complexity. Less complex fires are referred to as level 1; the most complex fires are level 3 fires, and they usually involve large numbers of personnel, other resources and agencies and high levels of risk.66 Figure 2.4 shows an incident control structure for a large or complex incident.

 

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Incident control

Once a fire breaks out and is reported, local brigades are notified and respond. This is referred to as the ‘first response’ and it occurs without orchestration from an incident management team. The officer-in-charge is the initial Incident Controller. If the first response to contain and extinguish the fire is unsuccessful, the local Incident Controller either asks for additional resources or passes control of the fire response to an Incident Controller who is better positioned to manage the fire because of the facilities available, the ability to gain access to and coordinate resources, or the presence of improved communications capacity. On a day of high bushfire risk a pre-positioned Incident Controller, with a pre-designated incident management team, might be designated to take over responsibility.68

The Incident Controller determines the control objectives—specific operational objectives—which become the foundation for the development of strategies and the subsequent incident action plan.69

Managing an incident involves a range of functions that are identified in AIIMS.

Incident action planning

The purpose of an incident action plan is to provide a basis for the management of an incident and communication of incident objectives. The plan should do several things:

•       describe the overall incident objectives and strategies

•       identify the main risk exposures—including the potential impact on the community and the environment

•       ensure continuity of control operations

•       provide for effective use of resources

•       identify total anticipated resources.70

DSE and the CFA use a common template for developing an incident action plan. Among the details required are the following:

•       a description of the situation

•       the incident objectives

•       the strategies to be adopted

•       detailed coordination information on structures, mapping, communications, timing and logistical arrangements.71

A number of locations might be established to effectively manage an incident. The size and complexity of the incident will determine which facilities will be required, such as:

•       an incident control centre—from which efforts to deal with the incident are controlled

•       an operations point—where field operations can be commanded by the operations officer

•       a staging area—where personnel and equipment are mustered and available for deployment to the fireground.72

Safety

The Incident Controller has ultimate responsibility ‘for maintaining the safety and welfare of operational crews’. The AIIMS manual provides that an Incident Controller may appoint a safety adviser to ‘oversee the occupational health and safety function at an incident’. Under a joint CFA–DSE standard operating procedure this discretion is elevated to a mandatory requirement for all level 3 incidents. According to the CFA–DSE SOP, a person who is appointed a safety advisor ‘shall have no other responsibilities within the IMT’. This requirement was introduced following the coronial inquest into the deaths of five firefighters at Linton in 1998. Agencies specify the level of competency and experience required of those who are appointed safety advisers. Their role is to assess risk and advise the Incident Controller on all aspects of potential and current safety and risk management at the incident.73

Red flag warnings

Both the CFA and DSE have standard operating procedures governing red flag warnings. The CFA SOP states that a red flag warning ‘shall be issued when there is a significant change to any actual conditions or forecast conditions that may adversely affect the safety of personnel and this information has or cannot be forwarded by normal means’. The equivalent DSE procedure states that the triggers for a red flag warning may be ‘previously un-notified changes’ in relation to matters such as ‘weather conditions’, ‘fire behaviour’ and ‘hazards on the fire control line’.74

The CFA SOP provides that members who receive a red flag warning must immediately acknowledge receipt, notify all CFA and support agency members they are supervising or who are reporting to them of the warning, and obtain acknowledgment of receipt of the warning.75

Record keeping

Ensuring that accurate recording and reporting systems are in operation is a responsibility of the Incident Controller and incident management team staff. This allows for effective incident management, briefings, information transfer and handovers to incoming staff. Record keeping is also important for the subsequent analysis of major incidents, to facilitate debriefings and for the identification of opportunities for improvement.76

Planning

The Planning Section is responsible for collecting, analysing and disseminating incident information, predicting incident behaviour, recording the location and tasking of resources, and preparing alternative strategies for dealing with the incident.77

The complexity of an incident might dictate that the Planning Section be made up of units and specialist resources dedicated to particular tasks or functions, such as the following:

•       the Situation Unit, which monitors and predicts the incident’s behaviour, prepares alternative strategies, and identifies the risks and likely outcomes

•       the Resources Unit, which gathers, maintains and presents information on incident resources and contributes to plans for demobilisation

•       the Communications Planning Unit, which prepares communications plans

•       the Management Support Unit, which provides administrative services and operates communications equipment in the incident control centre

•       the Information Unit, which prepares and disseminates information within agencies and government, to communities, to other organisations involved in the incident, and within the incident management team structure.78

Operations

The Operations Section controls operations and directs resources, including equipment and people.79

Sectors or divisions may be established according to the geographic or functional requirements of an incident. A division is a defined geographic area or a specific functional responsibility, whereas a sector is part of a division.80

Although single resources (usually tankers) are often allocated to an incident, in large incidents groups of resources organised into strike teams or task forces are often deployed.81

Logistics

The Logistics Section acquires, provides and maintains the human and physical resources, facilities, services and materials required to deal with an incident.82

Specific incident control actions

Evacuation

Evacuation is the planned relocation of people from a dangerous or potentially dangerous area to a safer area and their eventual return. It is a safety strategy that uses distance to separate the people from the danger created by the emergency.83

Unless police have declared an emergency area under the Emergency Management Act, the decision to evacuate is an individual one. On 7 February the role of fire agencies was to make an informed decision about whether or not to recommend evacuation.84 Chapter 1 in Volume II discusses evacuation during bushfire.

Roadblocks

Control of traffic during a fire or other type of emergency is the responsibility of Victoria Police. The Incident Controller, however, might also determine that roadblocks are needed and ask Victoria Police to manage traffic where required.85 Chapter 2 in Volume II discusses roadblocks.

Warnings

Responsibility for overseeing the provision of warnings to the community rests with Victoria Police. The Incident Controller is responsible for ensuring that warnings are generated. On 7 February this largely included formal warnings from the CFA and DSE that generally were released through the iECC and interviews with local media conducted by the Incident Controller.86

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