Quote from the NSW Minister for Emergency Services at the Building Resilient Community Summit 'You can't have a responder on every street but you can have a response on every street.'

Assistant Commissioner interviewed about community engagement

This month on the Building Community Resilience blog we will share several interviews on community engagement with key people in the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS).

Assistant Commissioner Dominic Lane

Our first interview is with Dominic Lane AFSM, Assistant Commissioner and Director of Regional Services.

1. Why does the RFS do community engagement?

While we may have called Community Engagement different names over the years, the RFS has a proud history of working with people to help protect their properties and communities, and help them understand key information like Fire Danger Ratings. For a long time we’ve had a proactive approach to getting the message out, with people who are passionate about community prevention and community safety and want to get involved.

2. Did the 2009 Victorian bush fires change our approach to working with communities? If yes, how?

The Victorian fires did change our approach in a way, but essentially reinforced the need to work closely with our communities. The changes were more significant for Victoria, who had encouraged people to decide between staying or leaving in a bush fire. NSW recognised that there will always be a fire where everyone needs to leave. We take a pragmatic approach to working with our communities by providing them with the information to make informed decisions about their safety and actions.

3. How could members encourage their brigade to get involved in community engagement activities?

"It’s important to keep lifting the

profile of community engagement.

We need champions."

If everyone had a base knowledge of community engagement they may be more willing to get involved. All members of the service would benefit from developing basic skills across all disciplines relevant to the Service, including fire fighting, logistics, aviation support, communications and community engagement. They could then specialise in specific fields of interest. 

4. What is your opinion on people that want to join a brigade but don’t want to fight fires?

I’m a big supporter of flexible membership, where everyone has a valid role, and also support the development of community engagement brigades in areas willing to create them.

Members should complete Bush Fire Awareness training as a minimum before specialising in community engagement, as they need sufficient expertise in topics relating to bush fires to effectively engage the community on bush fire preparation.

5. Do you think brigades would benefit from having community engagement training in areas such as our key messages and products such as Neighbourhood Safer Places?

Absolutely. There is value in key messages being included as part of the standard training doctrine for Brigades, so that members understand what they should be telling the community about topics like Fire Danger Ratings and Neighbourhood Safer Places.

I believe the RFS needs to improve its understanding of community engagement and that staff and members would benefit from at least a minimum level of awareness about the aims of engagement.

6. Are there any groups in the community that are a priority to engage with?

I think grass fires will be a priority for the near future. There are farmers in the west of NSW that have started preparing fire breaks now for the next bush fire season in October. We need more farmers like that, who understand the risk we face and prepare for it. The biggest challenge in achieving change for this group is geographic isolation.

I also think we need to maintain a focus on the parts of Sydney where the bush goes right up to the edge of urban areas. There are always new people moving into high bush fire risk areas, which means we constantly need to educate people about bush fire prevention and mitigation.


7. How do you think a history of doing community engagement with a community helps with other fire fighting and brigade activities?

"Community engagement activities strengthen

 Brigades and give them a reason for being

during quiet times."

You can see which towns have brigades with good engagement programs. There are better relationships between the Service and local government, fire messages are displayed around town, the Brigades have a good knowledge of the community, and there is a lot of activity from proactive members recorded in the Bushfire Risk Information Management System (BRIMS).

"Community engagement is not a

‘support’ role: it is core business."

A prepared community, one that is aware and has prepared for a bush fire so knows what to do, can be a huge benefit and make a lot of difference to when we do have to fight a fire. A prepared home is also a much safer property for our fire fighters to defend.

8. Is there any message you would like to give to our members passionate about community engagement?

Keep up the good work!

In NSW there are 1.2 million bush fire prone properties. How can we engage these land owners so they understand their level of risk?

NSW RFS is developing some principles for community engagement. What are your thoughts? Comment at http://ow.ly/aztA7 RFSCommengage

What do you think of these as RFS Principles for community engagement?? Your thoughts????
Clarity of purpose – we clearly define why engagement activities are occurring, their context and the goals of our engagement Accessibility – we plan engagement activities to ensure needs of targeted individuals and local groups are considered in order to maximise their ability to participate
Hospitality – we provide a friendly, welcoming environment for all face-to-face engagement activities
Communication – we support two-way communication processes that provide accurate and timely information, and invite and value feedback
Evidence – we establish good engagement practices that are based on sound research and quality information
On message – we reinforce organisational key messages and identify locally relevant key messages to ensure we communicate consistently and effectively
Working together – we establish partnerships with relevant individuals, local groups, community networks and other stakeholders to build capacity and add value
Broaden the reach – we endeavour to involve individuals and local groups to move beyond established networks, to tap into significant knowledge and expertise within communities
Continuous learning – we report our engagement activities to ensure they achieve meaningful outcomes and can be monitored and evaluated for future improvement
Integrity – we build relationships by ensuring our engagement activities are open, accountable and designed to improve individual and group understanding of bush fire preparedness; to increase community trust and confidence in us.

At Illawarra Fire Control delivering the last pilot for NSWRFS DIY engagement. Welcome to our SES and Tasmania Fire Service colleagues who have joined us.

No Plan Dan: The Dribbling Hose

Ok so what has been going on in No Plan Dans head?

He hasn’t really planned and prepared for the bush fire season. Sure, he’ll tell you he has a plan, but it won’t be fully thought through. It won’t be written down, even though the NSW Rural Fire Service have been handing out Bush Fire Survival Plans for years. No Plan Dan actually has two of them, one in a drawer in his home office and the newer one hanging on the side of the filing cabinet, untouched since the day he put them there.


This is because No Plan Dan doesn’t really believe that anything will happen to him and his family. He knows there have been bush fires in the area before, but because bush fires aren’t all that regular, it won’t happen to him. After all, he is a local, knows the area and the fires happened ages ago! Naaaaa what are the chances? If it happens he will deal with it then...





No Plan Dan is out of water and out of luck

So when the fire does come, No Plan Dan doesn’t have a proper plan. Instead he does what he has seen so many times on television: he gets out the garden hose, puts the old ladder against the wall, climbs up and starts wetting down the walls and roof. He’s dressed in shorts, singlet and a pair of thongs and is hoping that the water from the garden hose will somehow protect his home from the approaching storm of embers and flame. His neighbours are all using their hoses too, so it’s not long before the water pressure drops. Just a little at first and then as the fire starts to get closer, it plummets to a mere trickle.



Does No Plan Dan look safe to you?

Several things have happened. The power has gone out, so the pumping stations that move the water around the water pipes have stopped working. There is still a bit of pressure caused by gravity, but it’s not a lot. Then No Plan Dan and his neighbours have all started using their garden hoses which has greatly increased the use of water. Finally, those few fire trucks that can get into the area have connected to the main pipes and are taking water to protect homes and try to deflect the worst of the fire. The pipes are almost dry.



Not the best shoes for a ladder...





  










As the sky darkens, the noise approaches and it sounds as loud as jet airplanes. A hailstorm of embers start to arrive, the water finally gives out completely and No Plan Dan realises that it’s time to get off the roof. He’s being burned by the embers that are falling on him and it’s becoming hard to breathe because of the thick smoke. As he climbs down the ladder, eyes streaming from tears caused by smoke and ash, he misses one of the rungs, his thong-clad foot slips and No Plan Dan drops like a stone onto the concrete driveway.

No Plan Dan thought bush fires only happened 'to other people.' A familiar, safe and welcoming environment can become dangerous, dark, extrememly noisy and life threatening when a bush fire occurs. You may lose power, water and telelphone services for hours or days.

Dont be like No Plan Dan.

Protect Your Family.

Protect Your Life.

Complete you Bush Fire Survival Plan!

No Plan Dan: Dressed to Kill

We are very pleased to introduce you to No Plan Dan! A series that utilises story telling to help share our bush fire safety messages. Thanks to those who have been involved in the development of No Plan Dan and his fellow characters , and worked so closely with the Community Engagement team to help bring this series to life.  Episodes of No Plan Dan will appear in the Building Community Resilience Blog over the next month, with Dan, his family and his neighbours expected to make appearances in other Community Engagement resources soon... So let the story begin!


We see him regularly on the telly, sometimes on his roof or between his home and an advancing fire, dribbling hose in hand, steadying himself to fight off radiant heat and a storm of embers. He’s clad in little more than stubbies, thongs and his singlet. Good old No Plan Dan is dressed for comfort with no thought for personal safety. It’s hot and dry, as total fire ban days tend to be, so he is padding around the house in as little as possible.

No Plan Dan 'defending' his home. Can you pick out Prepared Pete?

Even once he knows there is a fire coming, No Plan Dan doesn’t think about what he’s wearing. He sees firemen running around at the end of the street in full-length yellow gear, with gloves, boots, masks and stuff, but it must be as hot as Hades inside all that gear. So No Plan Dan sticks with his traditional dress. As he runs around doing a few last-minute things, No Plan Dan notices his neighbour, Prepared Pete, is dressed in jeans, boots, long-sleeve shirt and floppy hat. He even has a pair of goggles on!

No Plan Dan is alerted to the fire’s approach by a wave of embers raining down, getting inside his singlet, in his hair and even between his feet and the soles of his thongs. The sensation is something like being bitten by a dozen really large ants all at once, but No Plan Dan tries to ignore the burning marks on his skin as he uses the last of the water from his garden hose to wet himself down. He sees the sky is darkening and, for the first time, notices the noise and strong winds. Prepared Pete yells something out, but No Plan Dan can’t hear him and just waves an arm in acknowledgement.

No Plan Dan is feeling the embers and heat!

Wondering where all the rest of the fire trucks are, No Plan Dan heads into the back yard armed with a bottle of water and an old hessian bag, pounding desperately at flames as half a dozen patches of his lawn catch alight. As the flames flare and surge between his feet, the hairs on his legs vanish in a stinging instant. More embers start to hail down, kinda like rain in one of those heavy summer storms, getting in everywhere – even burning holes through his favourite singlet!

Suddenly No Plan Dan feels as though someone opened the door of a blast furnace nearby, as his skin senses megawatts of radiant heat from the fire front. His arms and legs feel like they’re inside an oven and, as he sucks down large gulps of air, No Plan Dan notices that his throat is burning too. He can hardly see because of the smoke, which is making his eyes water like crazy, and that’s not helped when he feels a sharp pain in his right eye as a large spark finds its new home.



Do you think No Plan Dan is coping?


Feeling faint, No Plan Dan tries to get back to the house, but is unsure of which direction to go. There is so much smoke he can hardly see his own hand in front of his face, even with his good eye. The whole world is orange and red, an almighty noise assaults his ears, it’s hot – oh so hot – and he can’t breathe. Now he’s not in front of a furnace, he’s inside it.

What will happen to No Plan Dan? What could have been different? Who do you think will have managed the best, No Plan Dan or his neighbour Prepared Pete?


Another adventure with No Plan Dan will be featured next week!

Reminder: Conference registrations close 16 March

Get in quick smart to register to attend the 2012 Australian Community Engagement & Fire Awareness Conference.


Registrations close Friday 16 March i.e. next week!


For more information and to complete our online registration form go to - http://bit.ly/hdXIs8.



Kind regards,



Community Engagement Team

Community.engagement@rfs.nsw.gov.au

02 8741 5416

A Community Protection Plan for Guerilla Bay

Thank you to Kelwyn White, Community Protection Planning Officer, Batemans Bay for writing this article and doing all the consultation work

In October 2011, I began work on the Guerilla Bay Community Protection Plan (CPP) as one of four initial trial locations in NSW. Working in the Customer Service Centre in an area that wasn’t familiar to me was a huge change to doing community engagement at a District/Zone/Team office. With that in mind I knew that unless I built rapport with the community, local Brigades and the District, and developed those trust networks, consultation with the community would not be successful.

The Guerilla Bay community are familiar with the CPP concept as they had a Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan implemented about five years ago. I made contact with a community member that lives in Guerilla Bay, who was heavily involved with the development of the Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan and also contacted a member of the Malua Bay Rural Fire Brigade. These meetings were a great starting point. These two people introduced me to the Guerilla Bay community and provided me with contacts in the community I could consult about the CPP.

I then made contact with the President of the Guerilla Bay Association, giving them written information on what a CPP was and what it would provide for the Guerilla Bay Community. I asked the Association to promote the CPP to residents and arrange a community meeting. The Association set the meeting date and forwarded invites to all members. From there I was in regular contact with the President of the Association as we prepared to take the CPP to the community. Making contacts and getting some background information on the community was an important step to take before doing any other consultation.



Bush Fire Preparation Map, Guerilla Bay

The next step was to meet with the local Malua Bay Rural Fire Brigade. I introduced the concept of CPPs and discussed the existing Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan, and examples of the Survival, Preparation and Operational Maps. I asked the Brigade to:

• highlight any concerns they had with operations in the Guerilla Bay area

• explain what they would like to see on the Operational Map

• provide comment on the existing mitigation measures in Guerilla Bay

• highlight any additional work they would recommend.

This meeting was also an opportunity to encourage the Brigade to attend the community meeting in Guerilla Bay, to show their support for the community and to continue building rapport between the Brigade and residents. The Brigade was really supportive of the planning process and looked forward to seeing the finished product and how they could put the maps to use operationally, for training and for community engagement activities. They were keen to be involved in the development and to work closely with the community.

The Brigade felt that one of the big advantages of the plan was that it would provide essential local information to Brigades assisting from other areas during a bush fire. The visitors would be able to get information on asset protection zones, bush fire risk, available access etc on a far more localised map than the current Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan.

My next port of call was the Eurobodalla Bush Fire Management Committee (BFMC). I introduced the process to all the members, gave them information on the development of the Guerilla Bay CPP and most importantly collected BFMC knowledge on Guerilla Bay.

The community meeting was held in January 2012 with 60-80 residents attending. Consulting the residents is the most vital part of the planning process, increasing their understanding of their bush fire risk, providing them information that will assist in the preparation of personal Bush Fire Survival Plans and giving them the opportunity to contribute to the development of the CPP.

As residents arrived, they were asked to put a sticker on the map to identify their property. Besides allowing us to see where people were from, it gave the residents an idea of the risk to their property.

The meeting was started with a quick survey to determine the resident’s thoughts, which had interesting results:

• 97.44 % believed they were at risk from bush fires in Guerilla Bay

• 79.49% already had a Bush Fire Survival Plan

• 92.31% had taken steps to prepare their homes

• 12.82% were members of the Guerilla Bay FireWise Group

• 64.10% were familiar with the existing Village Bushfire Mitigation Plan.

We then discussed the development of the CPP. The community had experienced a fire event in September 2009. We discussed how things could have been different had the fire been at a different time of year or started in a different location. We also talked about fire behaviour, Neighbourhood Safer Places and other safer locations.

We presented the community with examples of the Bush Fire Survival Map and Preparation Map, and invited the community to come up and view the maps, draw ideas on them and write questions for us. As the community had previously been involved in the development of a Mitigation Plan, they were keen to interact and take part in the discussion. Guerilla Bay is a very informed and educated community. This twenty minute exercise encouraged robust debate and clarified resident queries. The community really appreciated the lengths we went to consult with the majority of them over the holiday period.



Bush Fire Survival Map, Guerilla Bay

Residents were very interested in safer places, as Guerilla Bay only has one access road and no Neighbourhood Safer Place. They were also very interested in warning systems, because there is poor mobile phone reception in the area. They discussed the feasibility of having some sort of formal signal, such as a flag on their letter box, to let fire fighters know that they were home and defending their property. Residents’ concerns about large logs and fallen timber that remained after hazard reductions was reduced after we explained that they weren’t a significant fire hazard on their own. Another concern was the reliability of mains water supplies during a fire.



Through this process, we learnt more about community demographics and the community’s informal plans for action during fire events. When asked about the location of vulnerable residents, everyone agreed that they didn’t want to be considered as ‘vulnerable’. It was understood that everyone knows who they are and where they live, and it was generally felt they would be looked after if a fire occurred. Following the meeting we discussed the option of mapping where vulnerable residents live, but question whether this then means that we are then accepting the responsibility to help them, which may not be possible during a fire and isn’t really the job of the Brigades.

The meeting was concluded with a post meeting survey to determine if the information presented had changed the resident’s ideas:

• 12.82% now believed they were at greater risk of bush fire than before the meeting

• 79.49% were going to review or develop their Bush Fire Survival plan

• 69.23% were going to take additional steps to prepare their homes for bush fire

• 33.33% wanted more information on FireWise Groups

• 92.31% believed that the CPP was going to enhance their own planning

• 15.38% asked for specific follow up from the Rural Fire Service.

 

After the meeting we have continued to have regular contact with the Association to distribute clarification on queries raised at the meeting, and to update them on changes to the CPP. The BFMC endorsed the CPP on 1 March 2012. We can now start promoting and implementing the plan!