350 Eurobodalla’s submission to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements
Unprecedented Fires, Climate Chaos and a Traumatised Community
This has been very hard trying to write a submission covering the full extent of our concerns so soon after these traumatic events. Some of us lost homes, some fled for their lives from fire storms, some fought the fires here and up into northern NSW and some of us just choked on smoke and lived in fear for a couple of months.
Introduction
We are living in a climate emergency and we expect an emergency response. Across Australia more than 30 people died in the fires, more than 400 died from inhaling bushfire smoke. A lot of people risked their lives defending us and our forests and we are deeply grateful. Many more people could have died and many thought they were about to die during this emergency. 3,000 homes were burnt and many more saved by fire fighters.
New South Wales was the worst hit state.
There was a shocking scale of death and destruction of forests and wildlife with more than a billion animals killed. There was an appalling loss of sheep and cattle and agricultural land.
In Eurobodalla almost 80% of the shire was burnt and three people died. Many homes were lost. 350 Eurobodalla has been warning that climate change would bring worse bushfires, but we were shocked by the ferocity and scale of this summer’s fires. Climate chaos has hit harder and sooner than we expected.
People did their very best in a new and horrifying situation. There is much that can be learned from what happened and what we did this summer. 350 Eurobodalla is part of the world wide 350.org movement, dedicated to returning to a safe climate where carbon dioxide (equivalent) in the atmosphere is below 350 parts per
million.
Climate change is the major factor in intensity and spread of fires
2019 was the hottest and driest year on record.
Australia’s average mean temperature in 2019 was 1.52 °C above average, making it the warmest on record since consistent national temperature records began in 1910 and surpassing the previous record in 2013 of 1.33 °C above average.
Meanwhile the national average rainfall total in 2019 was 277 mm, the lowest since consistent national records began in 1900. The previous record low was 314 mm set during the Federation drought in 1902.
(Source: Bureau of Meteorology, 9 January, 2020)
First post-fires assessment quantifying bushfire risk due to climate change.
Only a short time has elapsed since the recent fires. However, the first assessment quantifying the role of climate change in the 2019-20 Australian bushfires found that:
(1) Global warming has boosted the probability of hot, dry weather of 2019-20 in south-eastern Australia by at least 30% since 1900.
(2) At 2°C warming these conditions would occur at least four times more often than in 1900
Source: Attribution of the Australian bushfire risk to anthropogenic climate change. Van Oldenborgh, G.J. et al.
https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/bushfires-in-australia-2019-2020 accessed April 2020
The Garnaut Report
In the 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review, which examined the scientific evidence around the impacts of climate change on Australia and its economy, economist Professor Ross Garnaut predicted that without adequate action, the nation would face a more
frequent and intense fire season by 2020.
(Source: ABC News, 8 January, 2020)
Worst ever bushfires
The 2019-20 bushfires in New South Wales (NSW) have been unprecedented in their extent and intensity. As of 28 January 2020, the fires in NSW had burnt 5.3 million hectares (6.7% of the State), including 2.7 million hectares in national parks (37% of the
State’s national park estate).
(Source: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, 27 February, 2020)
A State of Emergency
The NSW Government declared a State of Emergency in November, December and January to try to cope with the unprecedented bushfires. For the third time in this extraordinary and unprecedented fire season, the New South Wales Government has declared a state of emergency. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons requested the declaration
ahead of extremely hot conditions with more than 100 fires currently raging across the state. The state of emergency will be active for seven days from Friday. “Declaring this state of emergency is vital to the safety of communities in NSW as we face the most
devastating bushfire season in living memory,” Ms Berejiklian said.
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(Source: News.com.au, 2 January, 2020)
NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons
Climate change is having an impact on every level of fire management, the New South Wales rural fire chief has said on the first anniversary of the Blue Mountains bushfires.
(Source: NSW RFS, 17 October. 2014)
Mr Fitzsimmons also said that climate change had contributed to the unprecedented number of blazes burning across Australia this season.
“There’s no doubt that we see longer, hotter fire seasons, which correlate with shorter periods where you would typically get your safest period for burning,” he said.
(Source: 7News, 8 January, 2020)
Predictions of future climatic conditions in South East New South Wales Eastern Southern Slopes projections are:
Rain
- Less winter and spring rain
- Drying trend since 1960
- Up to 30% less rain by 2090 under high emissions scenario
Temperature - Average temperatures will continue to increase in all seasons
- Temperatures have increased over the last century
- Rate of warming higher since 1960
- High emissions will deliver 2.7 to 4.3°c warming by 2090
- Intermediate emissions will deliver 1.3 to 2.2°c warming by 2090
Extreme temperature - More hot days and longer warm spells
- Substantial increase in maximum temperature on hot days
- Fewer frosts
Droughts & floods - Time in drought increases
- More intense flooding and rain events
Sea rise - Average sea levels continuing to rise
- Height of storm surge events will increase
- Sea level rise averaged 1.4mm/year between 1966 and 2009
- High emissions will deliver 0.38 to 0.81 m rise by 2090
- Intermediate emissions will deliver 0.27 to 0.62 m rise by 2090
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- High emissions see sea surface temperatures of 1.6 to 3.4°c by 2090
- The sea will become more acid
- Threats to marine species local abundance and community structures
Bushfire weather - Harsher fire-weather climate
- Evapotranspiration increases in all seasons
- Solar radiation increases
- Humidity decrease in cool season
Source: https://www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au/en/climate-projections/future-climate/regional-climate-changeexplorer/sub-clusters/?current=SSVEC&popup=true&tooltip=true accessed April 2020
Australian Government response is inadequate
The Australian Government’s target of a 26-28% reduction in emissions by 2030 is half
what is recommended for Australia to comply with the Paris aim of remaining below 1.5
degrees of global heating. However, the present emergency has happened at only one
degree of global warming. A more urgent response is required and Australia must act to
reduce emissions.
The Australian Government is not actually reducing emissions, which are remaining high.
Accepting global heating of 1.5 degrees is accepting that our disasters will be worse that
the drought, the bushfires, storms and the degradation of our coastal waters will be worse
than we are already experiencing.
We expect that the Royal Commission will consider the long term and the immediate
responses needed to deal with our climate emergency.
Findings
Following a drought made worse by climate change and 2019 being the hottest, driest year
on record, the Royal Commission should find that climate change was responsible for the
bushfire season being unprecedented in its severity and extent. The Royal Commission
should find that the Australian Government has failed to adequately reduce the nation’s
greenhouse gas emissions.
Recommendations
The Royal Commission should recommend that Australia should declare a climate
emergency.
That Australia should plan to reduce emissions on an urgent basis and adopt a target of net
zero by 2040 or earlier.
That the Australian Government should encourage other nations to follow Australia’s lead
in urgently reducing emissions.
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The Government was warned this would be an extreme season
Retired leaders warned of the danger
The Retired Emergency Leaders for Climate Action asked to meet the Prime Minister in
April 2019 and then again after the federal election in May. They warned that Australia
was facing an extreme summer bushfire danger and wanted the Federal Government to get
more large water tanker aircraft.
Retired NSW Fire Commissioner Greg Mullins was interviewed by ABC:
“We have tried since April to get a meeting with the Prime Minister,” Mr Mullins told
ABC Radio on Thursday morning. “It’s clear now we won’t get that meeting. We had some
pretty simple asks that we wanted to talk to the government about.
“Funding for large aerial fire tankers. People would have seen the images the other day of
the Hercules coming in and dropping in 15,000 litres of retardant at Turramurra. I watched
that with great interest because I was in charge of the fire there in 1994 where 17 homes
were lost. That cut the fire off immediately.
(Source: ABC News 14 November 2019)
Benefits of large fire fighting aircraft
The value of aircraft when a fire has just started was demonstrated at Maloney’s Beach on
the North side of Batemans Bay on 9 December 2019. Six small aircraft and three
helicopters were diverted from the Currowan fire and were able to extinguish the fire with
the assistance of RFS ground crews. (Source: Bay Post, 10 December 2019).
By contrast, fires that got away burnt for weeks and longer, burning thousands of hectares
of forest, with huge perimeters. As the retired leaders requested, more large tankers are
needed.
Hazard reduction burning benefits limited by climate change
Hazard reduction has benefits and should be part of the management of fire risk, but
cannot stop fires driven by high temperatures and strong winds. This is from an interview
with Batemans Bay RFS :
said fire burnt areas where fuel had already been reduced through hazard
reduction burns.
“Out of this whole area in Currowan, do you think there hasn’t been hazard reductions up
there? Of course there have,” he said. “It went straight through those hazard reduction
areas, depending on how old they were. It probably didn’t go as intensely as other areas
but it still went through.”
said backburning during the fires would be more hazardous than the fire itself.
Even after the fire, burned leaf litter reignited at East Lynne weeks later.
He said Forestry did a hazard reduction burn in the Benandarah area in winter 2018 “which
helped a lot”.
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“That hazard reduction definitely played a part in that (Currowan) fire not progressing
further south,” he said. “People whinged about the smoke at the time, but I’m glad they
did it, because things would have been a lot different if they hadn’t.”
(Source: Batemans Bay Post, 4 March 2020)
Aboriginal traditional burning is supported by 350 Eurobodalla as a way to manage forests
and reduce fuel load by cool burns. Aboriginal fire practitioners recognise that climate
change has made things worse. They want to work with scientists to care for our forests.
Random or repeated hazard reduction can result in the proliferation of highly flammable
undergrowth. Management of the bush has to be done properly within the limits of a
shortened burn off season.
Findings
The Australian Government was warned that fire seasons were becoming more extreme
but did not take action to purchase or hire more large fire fighting aircraft. The
Government was warned that climate change would lead to worse fire seasons.
The Royal Commission should find that the Australian Government failed to adequately
prepare for worse fire seasons, despite a number of warnings.
Recommendations
The Royal Commission should recommend that the Australian Government should
convene a working group of current and retired emergency leaders to plan for the next andfuture extreme fire seasons. The Government should accept the advice of these experts.
Adequate funding should be made available for more large fire fighting aircraft and to
support state bush fire fighting agencies with equipment and training.
Eurobodalla issues
Despite heightened fire activity and concerning weather forecasts, holiday makers were
encouraged by Eurobodalla Coast Tourism and Eurobodalla Shire’s Mayor to travel to our
region during a number of notable high risk periods. This was unsafe and failed to
calculate risk.
Evacuation centres
Thousands of locals, visitors, and children who sought shelter on beaches experienced
acute distress and a number have ongoing trauma.
The evacuation of many thousands of holiday makers out of the region was chaotic, and
demonstrated the magnitude of demands placed on local and state governments as a result
of bushfire disasters of this scale and severity.
Demands on infrastructure – tele communications, fuel, groceries, supply chains – and on
RFS and emergency services, could not be adequately met.
Evacuation centres and Batemans Bay Hospital Moruya District Hospital were ill
equipped, with Moruya Hospital also coming under fire threat.
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The viability of the Australian Summer Beach holiday and the vulnerability of regional
tourist economies has been highlighted, especially when assessed next to evidence of
increasing global temperatures and analysis of unprecedented climate-led bushfire
behaviour during this elongated fire season of 2019-2020.
The cost of not acting on emissions to reduce further impacts by climate disasters, is
clearly economically and socially too high.
There have been reports of suicides in our area since the devastating firestorm activity.
Narooma Evacuation Centre failed to open on one occasion during Emergency
Advice, with evacuees forced to seek safety in parks and cars in the town.
There were no cots suitable for older residents (some in their eighties and nineties) or for
the disabled at the evacuation centres.
HEPA filters were lacking for bushfire smoke. Sanitation facilities were inadequate for
numbers, with a reported outbreak of gastroenteritis. at Moruya Evacuation Centre.
Findings
Despite the approaching fires, which had steadily moved south for months, Eurobodalla
was crammed with holiday makers. This made it very difficult to provide adequate shelter
when the fires came south of the Kings Highway.
The Royal Commission should find that the evacuation centres were not sufficient for
residents or holiday makers during a fire season of this magnitude.
Recommendations
The Australian Government should fund the conversion of community buildings to act as
heat and bushfire refuges. They will need air conditioning and air filtration to protect
against heat and smoke. Facilities for elderly and people with disabilities must be
provided.
Communication breakdowns
Good bushfire communications save lives. Good communications are essential for RFS
crews and people living in bushfire prone areas. The mobile phone notifications and the
Fires Near Me website and App helped many people to stay safe for much of the time
during the fires.
The sheer number of fires eventually overwhelmed the Fires Near Me website which could
not keep up as the fires spread.
In the Eurobodalla mobile phone towers including those at Wanderah Mountain, Surf
Beach and Malua Bay were burnt on New Year’s Eve 2019.
Power was cut along 100 kms of the South Coast, disrupting radio, phone and television
access for residents, holiday makers and fire fighters.
On Monday, January 13, (Telstra Regional GM) told Australian Community
Media that 12 mobile tower sites on the South Coast had been impacted and five
destroyed.
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The bushfires were the “biggest scale of event” the company has dealt with.
He said the South Coast had more than 40 mobile base stations off the air, mostly due to
power outages.
“It was primarily due to the mains power across the region being impacted,”
said.
(Source: Batemans Bay Post, 14 January, 2020)
This meant that mobile communications were lost to many people in the path of the fires.
Residents of Malua Bay and nearby areas were without coverage for many days. The Deua
River valley only had mobile coverage restored in mid April.
This is not good enough. There needs to be better local back up power and rapid
installation of temporary towers. In Eurobodalla emergency services struggled to provide
diesel fuel for generators at hospitals and sewage works.
Findings
The Royal Commission should find that loss of communications during critical fire events
made conditions much more dangerous for fire fighters and the public. There were
unacceptable delays in restoring services.
Recommendations
The Australian Government should ensure that there is adequate back up power in
communities which may be isolated by fires. The government should ensure that
emergency mobile and radio communication can be promptly re-established during
emergencies.
Volunteers need compensation for expenses and lost wages
The unprecedented bushfires have burned for months longer than ever before and
resulted in exhaustion and long call outs for volunteers.
350 Eurobodalla welcomes the offer of $6,000 to some of the NSW RFS volunteers who
lost wages while fighting the fires. This should be extended for people volunteering in the
other emergency organisations – the SES, the Red Cross, St John’s Ambulance, etc. In
addition people who are retired should be able to claim reimbursement for their expenses
during bushfire emergencies.
Findings
The Royal Commission should find that volunteers were asked to be on duty far beyond
what was normal and that this resulted in financial hardship for many.
Recommendations
The Australian Government should fund expenses for volunteers and provide
compensation for lost wages and lost income for businesses which closed to provide
volunteers.
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Recommended witnesses for the Royal Commission
The Royal Commission must hear from the Retired Emergency Leaders for Climate
Action. Their many years of experience and observation of how the changing climate is
affecting bushfires will be essential for the inquiry to consider.
Professor David Bowman of the University of Tasmania should also be called as a witness.
His study of fire across Australia and his analysis of the changes we need to prepare for a
future of worse fires should be considered.
Conclusions
These are not “natural” disasters
The extreme scale of the drought, the bushfires and the heating of our coastal waters
cannot be regarded as “natural” disasters. They are beyond what would occur naturally and
are a result of human induced climate change.
There is a clear path to a safe future. We must deal with the present impacts of climate
change. We will suffer for a time, but if we act to drastically cut emissions and draw down
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we can return to a safe climate.
Many people to thank
We are deeply grateful to all the people who helped our community during and after this
unprecedented disaster. And to all the people who are working to build a safer future.
This Submission is from 350 Eurobodalla
We thank the Royal Commission for this opportunity to put our views before you.
To download this submission:
https://naturaldisaster.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/submission/NND.600.00286.pdf