2013 Community Engagement Regional Forums

Community Engagement are conducting Regional Forums and you're invited.

Regional Forums give staff and volunteers with a passion for community safety the opportunity to:

• Be inspired with fresh new ideas about how to drive the bush fire safety message home in your community;
• Learn from neighbouring Districts' experiences; and
• Hear from knowledgeable speakers

Community Engagement Best Practice: Sharing Between Emergency Services

In late May, the Ministry for Police and Emergency Services (MPES) launched the Case Study Library for Community Engagement.

This case study library provides examples of community engagement projects and practices undertaken by agencies within the NSW emergency management sector. It is hoped that the library will raise awareness and promote information sharing on ways to effectively engage communities in disaster planning, preparedness, response and recovery. 

Workshop for horse owners

Kate Carter is the District Technical Officer for Hornsby and an active volunteer in The Oaks Brigade.

Kate has developed a Bushfire Safety program for horse owners that has been welcomed by members of the equestrian community. It was Kate’s course and handout that inspired the new ‘Prepare your horse for bush fire’ brochure, released in late December and now available for order on the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Resources Order Form.

Mount Hunter Bush Fire Survival Awareness Program

Ryan Clarkstone from Mount Hunter Rural Fire Brigade shares their Bush Fire Survival Awareness Program and describes what worked, what they would change and how the community has responded.



Participants in the Mt Hunter workshop learn how to put out spot fires



High Risk Roads: A Cudgegong District approach

We interviewed Jayne Leary (District Services Officer, Cudgegong District) about a recent workshop tailored to a community living on a high risk road. Subscribe to Engagement Matters before the October edition is released, to learn more about Jayne's other community engagement programs.

New Public Awareness Campaign: Planning to Make a Plan is Not a Plan

Since 2009, the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has been running the 'Prepare. Act. Survive.' public awareness campaign, with the aim to increase community awareness about the risk of bush fires; knowing the Fire Danger Ratings and having a Bush Fire Survival Plan. After measurable success, this three-year campaign has since concluded, with a brand new campaign being launched.

Commissioner interviewed about community engagement

We are sharing interviews on community engagement with key people in the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) on the Building Community Resilience blog.


 

Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons AFSM



 This interview is with NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons AFSM.

1. Why does the NSW RFS do community engagement?

The Rural Fire Service is in the business of community engagement because it is a key part of the fire management package.

'You can’t have a well informed and a well serviced community if you don’t engage meaningfully in educating that community."

More importantly we should be engaging them in doing their part to help improve their personal safety, as well as the safety of the community, the RFS and other Emergency Service agencies.

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

Nationally we certainly learnt from that tragedy. We came together in a very, very short time period and realised the need for more concise, more simplified, and more consistent language to alert people to their vulnerability and to make sure at risk communities understand they have a key role in managing fire.

It has certainly strengthened our approach in many areas. There have been changes to the way we communicate public information during fire events. We have also started to prepare local community protection plans where we profile local communities and seek to tailor solutions or treatments that will work best for them.

There is no doubt that the Victorian experience has seen us take a more proactive approach to community engagement and initiatives like Neighbourhood Safer Places and Community Protection Plans. We have ‘one stop shop’ information in our customer service centres to assist Districts and community members and we have improved accessibility to online tools. These tools will help people to understand their level of exposure and the sort of things they should be doing to prepare for and better protect themselves from fire.

Before the Victorian fires NSW was doing very well when it came to development control, planning assessments and building in bush fire prone areas. Our integrated fire fighting and state emergency management arrangements made everyone’s responsibilities very clear. The enormity of the Victorian tragedy mandated that we all needed to do more – and we have.


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

I see some wonderful community engagement programs at brigade level across NSW and I think we need to continue to market and promote the positive results and the initiatives being done by individual brigades. Increasingly at the Annual General Meeting there are individuals, or a number of individuals, identified and voted in as Community Engagement Coordinators for their areas and it is being recognised as an important role in local brigades.

Depending on your brigade and your classification as a brigade your community engagement activity will vary considerably. What occurs in a village type brigade or a remote rural brigade will obviously be somewhat different because of the population or geography. Leveraging off each other, seeing what other people are doing, seeing what other brigades are doing, accessing some of the community engagement resources and better understanding what sort of things you can do as a brigade is really important.



There are many roles for Brigade members (Penrose Brigade)

 "We are being very deliberate in looking at our flexible membership model. We need to have more recognition of the importance of non traditional fire fighting roles. Having a well informed and a well prepared community is equally important to fire fighting. Recognising the equality, importance and value of community engagement at an organisational level is really important."

4. How can we encourage our members to share their good stories?

We have members across the state that are doing wonderful things everyday but they don’t gloat about them, they don’t put their hands up and say we have a wonderful thing going on, they just do it.

We usually rely on District Managers and other senior people of the District to say, “hey there’s a good thing happening in our area”, simply because a lot of community engagement people aren’t inclined to promote what they do. They may regard it as everyday business whereas someone else may see it as worth talking about. The community engagement forums are effective in sharing and exchanging ideas with other community engagement people, but how much of that goes out to the broader organisation is unknown.

It’s the same for any of our focus areas, for example our aviation people know what’s new and happening in the Aviation business, but I suspect there are many in the organisation that wouldn’t have a clue. We should be targeting this wider audience as well.

We are looking at a new newsletter that will introduce new and wonderful things going on across the State. There will be news snippets and if people want to read more about a particular note, they will be able to click onto a hyperlink and read a more detailed story about what the brigade or member is doing.


5. What is your opinion on people that want to join a brigade and don’t want to qualify for Basic Fire-fighter (BF), but would like to undertake a support role?

"I have been outspoken about this for a long time now and I think it is critical to our future. We need to advertise and promote the Flexible Membership Model, which values and recognises so many other roles in our organisation other than fire fighting."

The classic example I would use is from a Brigade close to home about 5-6 years ago. Every time there was a bad fire weather day, the local brigade was relied upon to send crews up to the top of the fire tower. They kept a visual out for smoke and then radioed reports back as an early detection system. The local Captain there at the time questioned why he was sending crews up the tower on bad fire days when in fact he needed fire fighters on the truck in case a fire started.

The Brigade put a little note in the local community newsletter, asking residents if they would like to play an important role in the RFS. They asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to assist their community and the RFS but didn’t want to get involved with actual fire fighting. They just needed to undertake some basic fire awareness training and not be afraid of heights, do some training in map reading, radios, etc.

The Brigade was inundated with people that wanted to do something different. There were retired members who had stopped fire fighting and people who have always wanted to get involved but were fearful of the fire fighting. They came on board and did their training courses on map reading and how to use a radio, some basic fire knowledge (wind effect on smoke, etc). They became a Tower Brigade and the tower is staffed regularly every time there is a TOBAN or a bad weather day and it all comes without having to compromise the fire fighting workforce.

I am a big supporter for making sure we continue to diversify roles and recognise diversification of roles and functions in this organisation. There is an old adage in the military that says something like “for every person out in the field holding the rifle, there are three to five other people doing really important roles to make sure that soldier is serviced, protected and looked after”. We are no different and we have an army of people that need to come together, whether it’s catering, community engagement, communications, fire protection, mitigation or technologies, and I am a very big supporter of it.


6. 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?

I think it’s critically important. It should be done as part of brigade training and brigade familiarisation. Also at certain times of the year we could update everybody on the key messages and send some posters or fact sheets out to the stations to hang on the walls, carry in their pockets, as well as having them all available on MyRFS. Then everyone has a quick reference point.

I remember very vividly one of the skits at a previous Community Engagement Conference at Newcastle where they did role plays. Members in the role play weren’t quite aware of what the messages were and the poor community member was trying to get from fire fighters what the message meant. If our fire fighters don’t have knowledge and make it up, dismiss or belittle the information, then the whole thing is lost and we lose a good opportunity to help make people safer.


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

It is obviously a priority to engage with those that live, work or travel in bush fire prone areas, but particularly we need to look at our vulnerable community members. We need to look at what options are available to them and what treatments can be delivered. I think we will benefit from the new work we are doing on Community Protection Plans. They will enable us to take a more detailed look at our communities and work more closely with them. Part of the benefits of delivering Community Protection Plans is working with Brigades and community members to identify their risks and what treatments are available, and what individuals can do on their property or when working as a collective with neighbours.



Workshopping Community Protection Plans at the 2012 ACE&FA Conference

 We have just been through the two wettest successive years on record in NSW. With all that moisture, which is very widespread, we have an abundance of grassland growth the likes of which we have not seen for 30-40 years. In some areas that 30-40 years difference is a generational change and you’re dealing with people that will have very limited experience of fire in their area. For the last 20 years with extraordinary, protracted drought situations the risk has been moderated significantly by the absence of fuel on the ground. We have to take a good look at grassland communities.

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

There is a multi faceted benefit to the local brigade. Firstly the local Brigade can build trust and familiarity with members of the community. There is also a reciprocated awareness for Brigades of knowing who in the community is doing what and how engaged and capable they are. From this they will know how prepared a particular community and individuals or groups therein, actually are.

"I’ve also seen brigade community engagement activities or programs that have inspired the community to join their local brigade, become active in their local brigade or to become good fire fighters in their local brigade. This also brings community members together. Neighbours are introduced to each other, collaborate on different things, and work with the brigade to deliver shared treatment regimes to protect the community, not necessarily just for individuals."

At the end of the day our brigades are a key part of their local community.

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

I would like to commend community engagement people and their colleagues in all other streams of the RFS business, who have been at it for a long time. Years ago we started out with community education and engagement at such a rudimentary level, but the transformation in approach, the transformation in techniques, materials and messages has all been quite extraordinary. There is no doubt that when you see well informed, well prepared and well engaged communities impacted by fire matched with a good fire fighting effort you get really good results in that local community.

I think our community engagement members ought to be very proud of the role they play in the RFS and in making a difference in the communities across NSW. Our community engagement conference is so well regarded it is one of the most popular programs attended not just by people from NSW but from colleagues across Australia and beyond. I think that speaks volumes. My simple message would be a big congrats and keep up the good work because there is still a lot to be done.

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!

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.

Community Protection Plans FAQs

At the beginning of February we introduced you to NSW Rural Fire Service Community Protection Plans. Patrick Schell has answered some common questions about the plans...

What is a Community Protection Plan?
A Community Protection Plan (CPP) is a tactical level bush fire planning document that is being developed in response to the 2009 Victorian Bush Fires Royal Commission. A CPP presents an overview of bush fire threat for the area, the protection options available to the community as well as the current and proposed risk treatment work. This information is presented via the following three maps:

1. Bush Fire Survival Map - will include information on the potential bush fire threat, the safety of access / egress provisions, early relocation options and contingency shelter options.

2. Bush Fire Preparation Map – will provide information for land managers, fire agencies and community members on details of the existing and proposed bush fire risk treatment work for the community.

3. Brigade Operations Map - provides brigades and other fire fighting agencies with important data relevant to the community to be used for operational purposes only.

What can we use a CPP for?
The three maps produced when developing a CPP can be used for a number of purposes. The intended purpose of each map is outlined below:

 1. Bush Fire Survival Map – Can be used for engaging and educating the community on their bush fire exposure, where they can go should they decide to leave early and potential shelter options that can be used as a last resort. Information contained on this map should promote action from the community and inform the preparation of personal Bush Fire Survival Plans.


2. Bush Fire Preparation Map – A work program that will assist districts/teams/zones (D/T/Z), brigades, agencies and land managers in planning mitigation activities for a community. It should also be used to inform residents on specific risk treatment work that is being implemented to protect the community.

3. Brigade Operations Map – Can be used by brigades to inform new or out of area fire fighters on important aspects of a community that may affect fire fighting operations. Data collected during the preparation of this map could also be used when developing pre-incident plans.

Why do we need CPPs?
CPPs are being developed in response to recommendations 1-5 of the final report 2009 Victorian Bush Fires Royal Commission. These recommendations relate to bush fire safety policy and provide the impetus for the creation of the CPP framework.

There is a need to integrate and standardise the format and content of current community level plans that have been developed across NSW. There is also a need to provide guidelines, tools and resources to facilitate a consistent approach to community level bush fire planning.

What is being done in other Australian states to address this issue?
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) Victoria has developed a similar concept to CPPs known as Township Protection Plans, which can be found at www.cfa.vic.gov.au. To the best of our knowledge, none of the other states or territories have developed an equivalent to the CPP program at this stage.

How is a CPP different from a Bush Fire Risk Management Plan?
A Bush Fire Risk Management Plan (BFRMP) involves an assessment of the bush fire risk across a Bush Fire Management Committee area and establishes treatment strategies to address these risks. A CPP is a tactical document that is prepared at a much finer scale than the BFRMP and assesses the bush fire threat/exposure as well as access/egress provisions, shelter options and risk treatments for a community. CPPs will operate as the work program for an area and will also capture important information such as vulnerable communities, which can be used by local brigades and emergency services during pre-incident planning exercises and fire fighting operations.

What is the difference between a CPP and a Village Protection Plan?
In developing the framework for the CPP initiative, the content and layout of Village Protection Plans (VPPs) and other similar plans that had been prepared throughout the State were reviewed with the key principles incorporated into the guidelines. This was done to avoid potential conflicts between existing plans and ensure that the work carried out by D/T/Z and Bush Fire Management Committees in the past could be readily utilised when developing a CPP. Existing VPPs can be incorporated into the CPP and will typically form the Bush Fire Preparation Map.

CPPs, VPPs and other similar plans are all tactical bush fire planning documents that are prepared at the community level and essentially serve the same purpose. In addition, a CPP will also address matters such as the bush fire threat to communities, shelter options, access/egress provisions and provide for the collection of important data that can feed into brigade operational planning.

What are the benefits of a CPP for local brigades?
The CPP will capture important information such as water supply, location of vulnerable communities and fire history for a community. This information can then be used by local brigades and emergency services during pre-incident planning exercises and fire fighting operations. A CPP will help the brigade plan their activities and will also be a useful tool to encourage and help members of the community to take action and be better prepared for bush fires.

Who should be involved internally within the RFS when developing the CPP?
A CPP is developed by staff from the Customer Service Centres (CSCs), the district/team/zone (D/T/Z) office and members of local brigades. It is important to note that local knowledge and information will be vital to the development of the CPP and D/T/Z staff and local brigade member involvement in the preparation and implementation phase is essential. It is intended that CSC staff will act as a resource to assist the D/T/Z in preparing a CPP for communities within their area.

Who in the community should we consult when developing a CPP?
Members of the community that should be consulted during the preparation of a CPP will be identified in the CPP communication strategy. Typical groups who should be involved in the development of a CPP will include neighbourhood associations, local bush care groups and the general public. In addition, it is vital that consultation occur with other fire authorities, land managers and agencies relevant to the area through the Bush Fire Management Committee and Local Emergency Management Committee.

How long will it take to prepare a CPP?
There is no set time frame, but a Plan could be developed within a 3 month period. However, the time taken to develop the plan will depend on the specific circumstances of the subject community. The scheduling of CPPs throughout the State will be done in consultation between D/T/Z, Region and Customer Service Centres. 

What assistance is available when developing the Plan?
Generally, a CPP will be mostly prepared by Customer Service Centre (CSC) staff in close consultation with the D/T/Z office and local brigades. The role of the CSC staff is to assist the D/T/Z in developing a plan for communities within their area. The Community Planning, Community Engagement and GIS sections at headquarters can help develop and implement a CPP.

Is anyone already using a CPP?
A number of CPP pilot studies are currently occurring throughout NSW. The purpose of these studies is to trial the draft guidelines, tools and framework that have been developed for the initiative. Some of these pilots are now nearing completion and the experiences gained through these studies will inform the further development of CPPs. It is intended that a final version of the guidelines, tools and framework will be made available in coming months. However, as the CPP concept evolves, it is likely that the enhancements and modifications will occur, particularly over the initial 12 month period.

Who will be responsible for the additional work identified in the CPP and who will resource it?
The land owner/manager or relevant agency will ultimately be responsible for implementing and maintaining additional work identified through the CPP. Where possible, the NSW Rural Fire Service may help with initial implementation of this work e.g. utilising the State Mitigation Service crews to implement an Asset Protection Zone. Opportunities to link current funding programs with CPPs are being investigated.

Community Protection Plan overview

Many of you may have heard about Community Protection Plans and are probably wondering what they're all about, and what it will mean for your area. Patrick Schell has written an overview for us and is working on making the planning and update process as user-friendly as possible. Join us over the coming weeks to hear how the pilot has gone in Region South.

It's been almost nine months since Community Protection Plans (CPP) were initially presented to NSW RFS staff at the Community Safety Directorate Forum in Wollongong last May. Since the Forum, significant work has occurred in the refinement of the concept and development of guidelines and tools to assist in the implementation of CPPs throughout the State.

In October 2011, the draft CPP guidelines were released to Customer Service Centre staff and the pilot process commenced. It was desirable to trial the draft CPP process in a variety of environments including:

• a typical urban interface

• an isolated coastal township

• rural communities west of the great divide surrounded by a mix of vegetation types including grassland.

As such, the following areas were initially selected for a pilot study:

• Terrey Hills (Region East)
• Tingha (Region North)
• Guerilla Bay (Region South)
• Cumnock (Region West).

The above areas also represent a diverse range of community demographics in which to trial the CPP concept.

As the initial areas progressed with their plans, additional areas in which to pilot the CPP process were identified. This included two villages in the Clarence Valley local government area and the township of Dalgety in the Snowy River local government area. We are also investigating implementing a CPP in the Blue Mountains area.


The initial CPP pilots are now approaching completion and a workshop with the CPP Working Group has been scheduled for 14-15 February 2012 to resolve any emerging issues. The CPP Working Group consists of representatives from D/T/Z, Region, Customer Service Centres and Headquarters and this will be the third time that the group has met to discuss and resolve issues associated with the CPP concept.



Consulting the Duffys Forest Rural Fire Brigade about their Community Protection Plan



A key aspect that has been highlighted through the pilot studies is the involvement and input of the local D/T/Z staff and brigade members in the preparation and implementation of the CPP. Local knowledge of the surrounding landscape, community demographics, location of vulnerable communities, infrastructure (e.g. road networks and water supply provisions) and fire history is vital to the development of a CPP that is relevant, practical and addresses the specific issues of the community. Furthermore, effective engagement of residents, BFMCs and LEMCs is also proving to be a critical part of preparing and implementing a CPP.

Without the support of the D/T/Z office and members of the local brigade, a CPP becomes a redundant plan and the intended benefits to community safety will never be realised. Ultimately, a CPP should seek to provide D/T/Z staff and brigade members with tools to assist in engaging residents and increasing the overall preparedness of the community for bush fire.

Finally, it is important to note that the CPP process remains a work in progress and it is envisaged that the program will constantly evolve over time.

For more information regarding CPPs please email Patrick Schell on patrick.schell@rfs.nsw.gov.au.