Refuges plan

By Kath Gannaway
ANNOUNCEMENTS by the State Government last week support the reinstatement of defined fire refuges and fire sirens in some towns in consultation with communities.
The refuges were decommissioned in 2003 but at community meetings in Warburton, Yarra Glen and Healesville in the weeks following the Black Saturday fires many residents said they were unaware they were no longer sanctioned.
There were rowdy calls at some meetings demanding their immediate return.
The lack of warning sirens was also quick to surface. A petition calling for fire station sirens to be sounded as a warning gained widespread support in Healesville.
The recommendations are made as part of a dramatic overhaul of the “prepare, stay and defend or leave early’ policy.
Under the government’s proposals more emphasis would be placed on saving lives, with the message that the safest policy is to leave early.
Just what that means would be reinforced through education and tools including an online risk assessment to help people assess how defendable their home was, and the risks they would face.
The refuges would be re-christened “neighbourhood safer places” identified as part of a township protection plan in consultation with communities.
Yarra Ranges Shire however, in line the the Municipal Association of Victoria’s stand on refuges, says it would be irresponsible for councils to promote refuges without adequate state funding for providing and maintaining them, and without a clear understanding of technical issues such as construction and safety standards, and where they would be located to ensure maximum community protection.
Yarra Ranges Mayor, Len Cox, said factors that led to the decision to do away with refuges included the inconsistency of designated fire refuges with the state’s “leave early or stay and defend” policy; lack of prescribed safety standards for public refuges designated by council and the liability for any potential harm to people using the refuges.
He said there was also a view that establishing the refuges might lead to people leaving their departure from their home in the face of a fire too late.
Cr Cox said the Commission was reviewing the leave/stay strategy and it was appropriate for the shire to wait for their recommendations and the adoption by the State Government to provide direction on the matter.
The government’s submission to the Bushfire Royal Commission also outlined more than $50 million would be spent on new initiatives which it said was subject to consideration following the release of the commission’s interim report due on 17 August.