Wye River
The Otway bushfire that destroyed more than 100 houses at Wye River and Separation Creek should have been contained before Christmas Day, foresters say. Source: The Age
And if no lessons are learned from the disaster then popular Great Ocean Road towns will be at risk again in the years to come.
The Institute of Foresters Australia is demanding the Andrews government hold a special inquiry – just as was held for the Cobaw fire in October last year – into the fire which destroyed 116 houses on Christmas Day.
The Inspector-General for Emergency Management will examine the fire as part of the normal process for any fire of significance.
The fire was sparked six days earlier by lightning, which the institute says is common, so the fire should have been contained quickly.
Officials warned when the fire was first sparked that it was a difficult task for firefighters because of inaccessible terrain. But foresters say the Otways are no more inaccessible than country in East Gippsland and north-east Victoria where multiple lightning fires are common, and controlled quickly.
Gary Featherston, chairman of the Victoria division of the Institute of Foresters Australia, said better fuel management including fuel reduction burns should have been employed.
“If it nothing happens, in another 30 years Wye River will be under threat again,” Mr Featherston said.
“Experienced foresters find it hard to comprehend that a small, lightning-caused fire in relatively accessible forest, could not be contained after five days of benign weather conditions before Christmas.”
He said focus on the emergency and evacuation management response had obscured the elephant in the room.
“Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem,” Mr Featherston said. “The Victorian public needs to be made aware of the practical and cultural aspects of forested land management which affect the capacity to effectively control forest fires, rather than continually being told that devastating bushfires are just an unavoidable consequence of climate change.”
Fire authorities continue to monitor the blaze, which remains in tough deep-seated mountainous terrain in the Otway Ranges Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett said emergency services did an “extraordinary job to safely evacuate hundreds of homes, contain the blaze over many days and ensure that no lives were lost”.
“Given the significance of the Wye River fire and in line with normal practice, I have written to the Inspector-General for Emergency Management to look at what lessons can be learnt,” she said.
The Victorian National Parks Association spokesman Phil Ingamells said there was no need for a specific inquiry into the Otway fire.
“Since Black Saturday there is a lot of new information about the relative effectiveness of the range of tools available to us, such as fuel reduction methods, rapid aerial attack, shelters and improved planning laws,” Mr Ingamells said.
“It is time for a state-wide reassessment of fire management options, so that we can get the best safety outcomes, and also care for our natural heritage.”
