Dog catcher was the shire fire planner

Community-wide participation in fire planning was unheard of 25 years ago. In fact some shires treated fire risk with a touch of disdain according to Bob McDonald, Executive Officer of the Victorian Rural Fire Brigades Association. He cites the case of one municipality in Central Victoria, where fire planning and preparation was consigned to the shire’s dog catcher.

“As he trawled the streets looking for stray animals, he’d note down those blocks that were overgrown and then issue a fire prevention notice to cut back grass and other vegetation,” Bob reflects. “Back then there was little community involvement in local fire planning, it was quite dysfunctional. Then along came Ash Wednesday. After that people started getting serious about pre season fire planning.”

Bob reckons it’s particularly telling that the precedent for wider community involvement has occurred in those places that have suffered the most including the Macedon Ranges, the Surf Coast and more recently the Grampians, North East and Gippsland.

“These communities have learnt the hard way and have responded because they want to avoid a repeat of the disaster that has previously befallen their communities ravaged by bushfire." Some communities are good at fire planning and have taken it to a higher level.

Bob believes its essential the broader community gets directly involved in fire management planning with the fire service, support agencies and local government.

“Fire planning shouldn’t occur in isolation as it has in the past,” Bob says. “The whole community has a part to play and the Association is a supporter of Integrated Fire Management Planning.”