How IFMP affects CFA

No doubt many of you have heard of the Integrated Fire Management Planning (IFMP) project.

What I’d like to do is go to the heart of that project. To talk about what IFMP is and how it affects CFA. After all is said and done, IFMP is simply about identifying risk and working with communities to mitigate that risk. It’s about finding a formula that works.

Because Victoria is so diverse, the formula may change depending on the characteristics of an area, but the idea is the same – work together to lessen the risk of fire.

And, of course, a true plan or formula is not just devised by one group, even one as knowledgeable and with as much history in bushfires and emergency management as CFA. A plan can only be successful when all members of the community have been involved.

You often hear me talk about multi-agency planning. It is true again here that IFMP can, and will, only succeed if all agencies have a say in the plans.

And real integration is the only way to produce the best plan. Integration not only among agencies – but also integration between agencies and municipalities. And then integration between agencies and municipalities to the public, because we must never forget it is the public that receives the greatest value from IFMP in the long run.

Think of the winegrowers. Their livelihoods depend on their sacred vines that fire can quickly destroy. But the plan to protect their investments will likely be different from the plan to protect a farmer’s fourth generation bloodline cattle stud.

For us at CFA, we need to be intimately involved in the planning process. Our members across the state are experts in this field, with years of accumulated knowledge and experience that are of immeasurable benefit.

The flow-on effect for our operational arm is that, with planning, our resources are better directed, our time better spent and our capacity to respond further enhanced. We have something to offer this planning process and we also have much to gain.

The next few months are critical as between eight and 15 Victorian municipalities will begin the pilot phase of IFMP. Only through full partnership can we make this program a success, and reap the rewards of measured, integrated planning. We are looking forward to working with Local Government to achieve the best outcome for the communities we protect, and learning from these pilot programs.

Neil G Bibby AFSM
CEO