''Australians remain unprepared to deal with bushfires
despite a long history of loss and devastation from natural
disasters, according to some of the country's leading bushfire
researchers.
The comments come as Australia deals with the loss of at
least 173 lives and many more homes after devastating bushfires
swept Victoria.
In the wake of the nation's worst bushfire in recorded
history, other experts are also warning worse may be yet to come,
with climate change and drought increasing the ferocity and
duration of bushfires.
Psychology professor Douglas Paton, of the University of
Tasmania , says levels of preparedness to deal with bushfires
within at-risk communities in Australia are "generally
low".
Professor Paton, a researcher with the Bushfire Cooperative
Research Centre (CRC), says this lack of preparedness for bushfires
is a significant public policy issue.
It is a problem that has been heightened by the increase in
migration of people to semi-rural areas beyond the edge of
cities.
Professor Paton says it is important any decisions made in
the wake of the current devastating bushfires are made after
"careful technical analysis" is completed.
But he concedes "there are circumstances in which no amount
of preparedness is going to make any
difference".<h3>Fatalistic approach</h3>
Professor Paton says one of the main inhibitions in people
preparing for the bushfire season is in whether they believe their
actions will be effective.
"The biggest constraint is these people believe the fires
themselves will be too big and catastrophic for their actions to
make any difference," he said.
He says the media plays a role in this view developing, as
coverage of bushfires often focuses on the loss and
devastation.
Another factor is the way in which information is
disseminated to communities.
Through the bushfire CRC, Professor Paton and the Tasmanian
Fire Service will next year trial new ways of informing communities
about the need to be proactive ahead of the bushfire
season.
However, Professor Paton says it is important "to look at
exactly what happened [in the latest fires] to see the kinds of
processes that were in place" and to make sure "these lessons are
not just lost once the inquiry is finalised".
Bushfire CRC chief executive officer Gary Morgan says the
weekend's fires "show that many communities need to rethink the
notion of who lives in a bushfire zone and who needs to be educated
and prepared".
Mr Morgan says climate change, weather and drought are
altering the nature, ferocity and duration of bushfires and an
ageing and declining volunteer population is challenging the way
fire agencies are going to be able to manage these events.
<h3>Better design</h3>
Bushfire urban design expert Justin Leonard of the CSIRO
says the lost communities can be rebuilt to be more bushfire
resilient.
He says many of the townships destroyed were "conceived long
before a formal integrated response was devised on how buildings
and towns should be designed" in the light of extreme bushfire
behaviour.
Mr Leonard says in 90 per cent of cases homes are destroyed
not by the fire, but by embers that ignite debris lying around the
property.
He says research shows people who stay and defend the
property have a three to six times greater chance of saving their
home.
However, he says the findings could be subjective because
the people who choose to stay and fight for their homes may already
have more fire-proof residences.<h3>When to
flee</h3>
Professor John Handmer of RMIT University says research
shows that fleeing at the last moment is the worst possible option
as it is when most people die or are injured.
"This fire shows that leaving late can be the worst decision
to make," he says.
"Alternatively, many people made the perfectly acceptable
decision that their house was not defendable and decided to leave
early. They may have lost their home, but they kept themselves
safe.
"At this stage, it is too early to judge the application of
the 'prepare, stay and defend', or 'leave early' policy, but it
will be properly reviewed along with the normal review of all
policies and practices after a major fire event."EOQ
Australians 'unprepared' for bushfires--click above
