Aussie bushfire inquiry makes recommendations to help avert future disasters

SYDNEY - An inquiry into the deadly 2019-20 Australian bushfire season has released 76 recommendations to help avert future disasters, in a report made public on Tuesday. The inquiry examined the cause and impact of the disaster across the state of New South Wales (NSW) which was the most severely affected region, with 26 deaths and over 2,000 homes destroyed. “At this stage, NSW has just commenced the new fire season so the release of this report and our response is timely,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. The report focuses on community and emergency service preparedness, recommending the development of aviation assets for night time water-bombing operations, as well as compulsory land clearing and aggressive hazard reduction.

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) recently added an additional 120 trucks to its fleet and said that it would be offering increased support to its 70,000 firefighters who bear the mental weight of the disaster. “We want to make sure that because the RFS in NSW is the largest firefighting service in the world, that it is also seen as the world’s best practice,” NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said. Elliot said the inquiry showed there was no single answer to solving Australia’s bushfire threat, but that it was possible to mitigate the effects on the community.

“The last season was caused by a crippling drought, seeing an increase in fuel loads -- that is a matter of public record,” Elliot said. “We also note the vast majority of the fires were started by lightning strikes and that is not something that a government, no matter how hard we work, can prepare for.” Berejiklian added that climate change would continue to be a significant and likely exacerbating factor on future fire seasons. (Xinhua)