A Shared Responsibility A Shared Responsibility The Report of the The Report of the Perth Hills Bushfire February 2011 Review Perth Hills Bushfire February 2011 Review ISBN 978-0-7307-0248-1 Acknowledgements This report has been made possible through the invaluable assistance and contributions made by two officers of the WA Department of the Premier and Cabinet - M/s Belinda Van Sebille and Mr Stephen Hurley. The report drew significantly from the work of the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission and in this regard advice provided by Mr Ron McLeod AO is much appreciated. Mr Robert Cock QC afforded significant assistance by way of legal advice which is appreciated. Charles Sturt University is acknowledged for providing the opportunity to undertake this review. The residents of Roleystone/Kelmscott who provided the photographs in this report are also acknowledged for making a contribution in this way to the report. The residents afforded us extraordinary personal access which was respected and appreciated. Cover: Photograph taken by Kelmscott resident Leissa Hanley NOTE Since the transmittal of the report on 16 June 2011, a number of errors were identified. With permission from Mr Mick Keelty APM AO, these errors were corrected and the report reprinted on 7 July 2011. Recommendations Recommendation 30 Incorrectly printed on p.117 without the work „risk‟ between „the‟ and „posed‟ on the second line. Corrected with insertion. Recommendation 36 Incorrectly printed „Western Australian Policy‟ on pages 20 and 138. Corrected to „Western Australian Police‟. Recommendation 39 Part C incorrectly printed on page 145. Corrected with the part C text of the recommendation on page 20. In text Page 91, line 1, „atypical‟ incorrectly printed. Corrected with „typical‟. Page 130, under Local Resources, line 6, „that‟ incorrectly printed. Corrected with „of‟ to read “impact and timing of these meetings...” Page 132, quote from the FESA submission, line 4, incorrectly printed „with‟. Corrected to „without‟ to read “occurred without the knowledge...” Page 144, last paragraph, line 4, incorrectly printed „for‟. Corrected to „from‟ to read “from the risk of bushfire”. Page 147, footnote 222 incorrectly attributed. Corrected with Aberle, D – Hearing of Western Power, 4 May 2011. Page 150, footnote 222 incorrectly attributed. Corrected with Aberle, D – Hearing of Western Power, 4 May 2011. Page 186, under Incident Controllers, line 2 of first point incorrectly printed „ream‟. Correct with „team‟ to read “incident management team”. In addition, minor corrections, such as punctuation and formatting error were made in the reprint. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction & Recommendations .............................................................................................. 3 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Submissions to the Inquiry .......................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 The Major Incident Review ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Other Contributing Factors ....................................................................................................................... 11 1.5 List of Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2: The History, Context and Governance ..................................................................................... 25 2.1 Previous Reviews of Bushfire Risk Management in Western Australia ........................... 25 2.2 Legislation........................................................................................................................................................... 29 2.3 Declaration of Bushfire Prone Areas ................................................................................................... 31 2.4 Policies, Plans & Coordination ................................................................................................................ 37 2.5 Emergency Management............................................................................................................................. 43 2.6 Community Education .................................................................................................................................. 45 Chapter 3: Fuel Load and The Fire ..................................................................................................................... 55 3.1 Preceding Weather Conditions ............................................................................................................... 55 3.2 Fuel Load: Assessment and Management .......................................................................................... 56 3.3 The Fire ................................................................................................................................................................ 81 Chapter 4: The Response ......................................................................................................................................... 87 4.1 Attending the fire ............................................................................................................................................ 87 4.2 Evacuations ..................................................................................................................................................... 117 4.3 Communication ............................................................................................................................................. 122 4.4 Co-ordination ................................................................................................................................................. 130 Chapter 5: The Impact ............................................................................................................................................ 135 5.1 Measures of Success ................................................................................................................................... 135 5.2 People Displaced .......................................................................................................................................... 136 5.3 Homes ................................................................................................................................................................. 139 5.4 Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................................ 145 5.5 Insurance .......................................................................................................................................................... 154 Chapter 6: The Future ............................................................................................................................................ 157 1 6.1 Bureau of Meteorology Predictions ................................................................................................... 157 6.2 Peri-Urban Dynamics ................................................................................................................................. 158 6.3 Shared Responsibility and Resilience............................................................................................... 159 6.4 Structured Reviews ..................................................................................................................................... 186 6.5 Implementation / The Way Forward ................................................................................................ 189 Annexure 1: Announcement of the Special Inquiry ............................................................................... 191 Annexure 2: Appointment to Carry Out Special Inquiry ..................................................................... 193 Annexure 3: Terms of Reference ...................................................................................................................... 194 Annexure 4: List of Submissions ....................................................................................................................... 196 Annexure 5: List of Hearings .............................................................................................................................. 201 Annexure 6: DEC Incident Escalation Report ............................................................................................ 207 Annexure 7: Incident Action Plan .................................................................................................................... 208 Annexure 8: List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................ 209 2 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION & RECOMMENDATIONS 1.1 INTRODUCTION On 6 February 2011 a bushfire destroyed 71 homes and damaged a further 39 homes in the Roleystone-Kelmscott area of the Perth Hills in Western Australia. To the great credit of all of those involved, residents and responding agencies alike, no lives were lost. Having said that, many lives were affected forever by the fires as 517 families were evacuated from their homes1. Unfortunately,