Issues of Interest

Response to newspaper article from VFBV Region 13 President

Letter of response by Region 13 VFBV President Geoff Peacock puts Black Saturday activities in the Dandenongs into perspective. Geoffs response is below:

Dear Editor

The hundreds of CFA volunteers protecting communities in the Dandenong Ranges are very concerned at a local businessman’s remark to the Bushfires Royal Commission (The Age 12 Feb), that residents no longer drew much comfort from their presence and “CFA resources really haven’t got a hope of dealing with a fire on an extreme day.”

Many residents will know that on the most extreme of days, Black Saturday, the Dandenongs’ volunteer brigades dealt with many fires, and ensured that not a single home was lost in spite of fire danger at Code Red levels.

The main threat was from the Quarry Road fire at Upper Ferntree Gully. Volunteer brigades from the Knox Group and Dandenong Ranges, commanded locally by the Knox Incident Controller and the Belgrave Incident Control Centre, met that fast moving fire with an aggressive direct attack and stopped it with no loss of homes or lives.

Across the Dandenongs there was quick response to many fires, like the two that started at Silvan when hot, gusty winds blew bark onto power lines. Silvan’s own CFA volunteers quickly doused those fires then waited for their next callout.

The blazes extinguished in the Dandenongs were among more than 850 fires to which Victoria’s CFA volunteers responded on Black Saturday.

The 1,800 CFA firefighters of Region 13 were like tens of thousands of volunteers all over Victoria, providing local emergency response as well as the capacity to send strike teams to fight the major fires, wherever they occurred in the state.

We urge every resident to heed the advice of local volunteers, prepare your property before the season and be alert on days when bushfires are possible.

With that co-operation from the community, local CFA brigades have clearly demonstrated that they can provide an active and effective defence, even on the worst of days.

Geoff Peacock

Region 13 President
Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria

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