INQ265

Staff and consultants skilled in community engagement practice should be specifically included in bushfire risk management planning and preparedness building programs undertaken by State agencies and/or local government.

DFES should prepare a Standard Operating Procedure for the conduct of community meetings, and have available the appropriate audio visual and other equipment, to ensure that such meetings are able to fulfil their function in providing information and direction

Relevant policies and Westplans should be amended to require that full consultation occurs between the Controlling Agency and the Department for Child Protection and Family Support regarding the location of the evacuation centre(s) in a bushfire incident.

SEMC Secretariat Community Emergency Management Officers should work with the Shire to document the Shire of Mundaring’s learnings from the Parkerville Stoneville Mt Helena fire with a view to sharing this with other local authorities particularly those facing similar situations in order to exten

Appropriately equipped Incident Control Centres should be identified and/or established throughout the Perth Hills to meet the requirements of a fully resourced Incident Management Team in future bushfire events.

Consideration should be given to an automatic ‘Advice’ notice being issued as soon as a fire is reported in a pre- determined high risk area such as the Darling Scarp on days when adverse fire weather conditions are forecast.

Future appointments to the role of Incident Controller should be limited to one for the entire duration of the incident, with nominated Deputy Incident Controllers to assist or ‘take charge’ in the Incident Controller’s absence.

The Executive Teams of both DFES and DPaW should meet quarterly to review and agree joint improvements relating to issues of interoperability, complementarity and the alignment of firefighting doctrine.

In addition to regular meetings of the DFES/DPaW Interagency Bushfire Management Committee, the two organisations should use joint exercises to identify agreed firefighting approaches for common or likely scenarios.

All agencies engaged in bushfire response should develop expeditious procedures for the mobilisation of resources in support of other agencies. See discussion in Section 7.1.

A Restricted Access Permit system for the entry/ re-entry of residents, based on the one developed for the Parkerville Stoneville Mt Helena Bushfire should be finalised.

DFES, in consultation with bushfire volunteers should develop a procedure for the controlled entry and exit of volunteers to the fire ground

Consultation with the Board of the Lord Mayor’s Distress Relief Fund and other disaster appeal organisers should be undertaken to determine the potential for software development to consolidate the application and approval process, including provision of templates and application forms;

Development of a template contract for the clean-up of affected properties to speed-up the process;

Consultation should be undertaken with agencies and organisations that are engaged in emergency welfare provision to identify more effective ways to provide a consistent message to the community that non-cash donations are not required.

DFES should increase and maintain urban interface bushfire skills and expertise. Appointments to senior roles within the agency should include people with experience and credibility in bushfire firefighting and management.

DFES should review its training courses and Standard Operating Procedures to satisfy itself that all incident management personnel have the required level of understanding of WA emergency management arrangements, including those that relate to the roles of the Incident Management Team and Inciden

Training and awareness raising should be conducted to enhance the appreciation and understanding of DFES State and Regional operational personnel, including potential Incident Management Team members, of the nationally adopted Bushfire Alert and Messaging Matrix, in order to ensure that the most

The forthcoming review by SEMC of SEMP 4.4 Recovery Coordination and Westplan – Recovery Coordination and SEMP 4.1 Incident Management should include consideration of:

Standard Operating Procedure 1 (Mobilisation Zone 2, Perth Hills area) should be reviewed to ensure that appropriate escalation triggers and levels of operational readiness are in place for future periods when severe fire weather conditions are forecast.

EMP 4.4 and Westplan – Recovery Coordination should be amended to: clarify the wording around handing over control of the incident from the Controlling Agency to local government and the transition from response to recovery; include principles and criteria that will assist the Controlling Agency

Whenever a Bush Fires Act 1954 section 13 transfer of control is invoked, the Incident level of an event should also be reviewed and any changes documented.

The role of the Ground Controller should be reaffirmed in operational doctrine and reinforced in Incident Management Team training. During incidents involving aircraft the appointment of a Ground Controller should be confirmed by the Incident Controller

Procedures should be reviewed to address the risks associated with response aircraft all working from one forward operating base, including the need for a designated fire protection unit to be available in the event of an aircraftrelated fire or other emergency incident

Procedures should be established to monitor the use of heavy plant during a bushfire incident, including the tasking of support appliances.

Automatic Vehicle Location technology should be adopted to enable a better appreciation of the deployment and location of appliances at an incident, in order to increase situational awareness

Every effort should be made to enhance the ability of communications personnel to cope with fast moving and time critical fire events by providing and maintaining: ongoing extensive communications training; advanced vehicle capability for clear communication within areas of radio coverage dead sp

Radio infrastructure in the Perth Hills should be reviewed to assess whether it is practicable for radio and/or mobile phone coverage to be improved to achieve better coverage across the area.