Tuesday, 5 March 2024

Ministers statements: western Victoria fires

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:14): Last Wednesday Victorians braced for the second catastrophic fire danger warning of the year – all while the existing fire at Bayindeen was still burning – and of course many communities in our state have been through three disasters or challenging conditions in just the past three weeks. Unsurprisingly, our emergency services shone through in the toughest situations, as we know they do. Crews in the air and on the ground did an incredible job keeping Victorians safe, and the fact that no lives were lost and no further homes were destroyed is a testament to the vast preparation of all of our emergency services. On Wednesday night I was at the State Control Centre, and I saw just how quickly our fire services swung into gear to manage a really dangerous situation. It was basically under an hour and there was a truck parked near every house in Dereel protecting those assets – it was really an amazing effort.

I would also like to thank the 110 firies from New South Wales who came down to support our fire response, with three aircraft, five strike teams and an incident management team in tow. I met many of them after the event, and they were very happy to repay the favour as many Victorians have been doing in recent years. With their help, both fires were brought under control, and of course it meant that volunteers around the state could be well placed to protect their communities on a really high-risk day.

As we head into again more hot days I do encourage Victorians to continue to follow the warnings from officials, to download the VicEmergency app and to have a fire plan. I also wish to advise that in the last three weeks since the February fires, so from 13 February, the CFA have received 627 new volunteer member applications, which is fantastic. The incredible work and preparation of our emergency services did ensure that the conditions did not get the better of us. I am a strong believer that if you prepare you become luckier. I think that is what rang true last week. So thank you to all of our emergency services and community members who really stood up and protected their communities last week.