Crispin Hull

The fires will have a profound effect on the way Canberra is planned and developed – and not just in the suburbs that are rebuilt.

Four major studies will look at lessons to be learned from the fires and future land uses.

This month a discussion paper resulted from the Non-Urban Study. It suggested a range of possible sustainable uses of non-urban land, such as the rural areas, nature reserves and national parks. It will include suggestions about the burnt-out Stromlo area, including the possibility of residential development there. Before the fires, that was not a possibility. The study, which will be completed in October, will also make recommendations about the future of pine plantations.

The Urban Edge Review will look at design standards and guidelines, and management approaches for Canberra’s urban edge. The urban edge is the land that abuts the metropolitan area, and open spaces that link the urban interface with the residential areas, such as roadways. The review will assess whether any areas should be declared bushfire-prone.

ACT Forests Business Case will look at plantation forestry in the ACT.
Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_long term effect on planning”

Usually it is the bureaucrat’s ultimate nightmare – breaking new ground with no safe precedents to rely upon, no manual, no best-practice guidelines and models to ensure all bums are covered, all decisions justifiable, all funds accounted for and all careers protected.

Whatever finger-pointing goes on about the lead-up to the fire, it appears that the recovery work and administration has been exemplary. Well this is Canberra, so we should do those things well. There has been hardly a peep of criticism about the running of the Bushfire Recovery Centre – a good test for smooth administration.

There was little warning.

The manager of the centre, Di Butcher, taken from the child protection service of the Department of Education Youth and Family Service, found the experience surreal.

Usually human services are always struggling for money. Each section has its own procedures and ways of doing things.

“With Recovery Centre we were given the autonomy to just go ahead and to it,” she said. “We have got people here from every government department. Housing, mental health, child protection – a whole lot of people used to working in challenging areas, but everyone had a different style of reporting. We co-ordinated that quickly.

“We found out from the people affected what was needed. Often we have had to change tack very quickly. Unthought-of issued just emerged. So we spoke to people higher up about the things we found out.
Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_inventing a new administrative wheel”

The January 18 fires cost insurance companies $350.7 million, according to the Insurance Disaster Response Organisation.

It puts it among the top half dozen in the list of Australia’s most costly disasters for the insurance industry and the second most costly fire in Australia’s history. The fires destroyed the most homes on a single day in Australian history.

IDRO National Co-ordinator Christopher Henri said the $350.7 million “contributes to a total of more than $9.1 billion of insured losses for natural disasters since 1967, with the largest being $1.7 billion for the April 1999 Sydney hailstorm, followed by the 1989 Newcastle Earthquake at $1.1 billion.”

Other pay-outs (in today’s dollars) include $837 million for the Darwin cyclone and more than $350 for the Ash Wednesday fires in February 1983.

Three thousand home and contents claims arose from the Canberra fires costing $199 million. The 151 commercial and industrial claims will cost an estimated $146.5 million. These included the claims for Mount Stromlo and the pine plantations. The fire claimed 411 motor vehicles costing $4.8 million. Some of the commercial and industrial claims are yet to be finalised. Virtually no domestic claim is outstanding.

Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_insure for recovery”

ACT Bushfires Loss Figures as at 1 August 2003

Type Number of Claims Amount
House (home &contents) 3,000 $199 million
Commercial & industrial 151 $146.5 million*
Motor vehicle 411 $4.8 million
Farm 6 $411,000
Total Loss 3,568 $350.7 million

* Includes Mt Stromlo Observatory complex and pine plantations.

The electricity part of ActewAGL had to first to energise as much of the system as possible around the damaged infrastructure, and then to achieve several months worth of repairs in a matter of days, all while paying close attention to safety.

Working with damaged high-voltage infrastructure is challenging at the best of times.

System control staff isolated and bypassed damaged parts of the system so they could restore supply immediately where possible. This began even while the fires were still passing. Workarounds were devised, temporary lines run, little used switches and controls were brought into play, and the system was stretched to the limits of its engineered capacity. This was done with due regard for safety.

The infrastructure repairs began at first light on Sunday morning. There were not enough people or materials to do the repairs. So while ActewAGL’s crews were being dispatched to undertake critical repairs, the call went out across south-east Australia for people and trucks, and for materials including poles, transformers, mini-pillars and switch-gear. This was a massive management and logistic challenge. It was essential that the first crews arriving in a few hours could be put to work safely and without delay. Every technician, truck and pole that arrived in the ACT over the following days was used without delay.

ActewAGL had to “engineer on the fly” using whatever resources available.
Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_how they restored power gas water”

From the day after the fire, the ACT Planning and Land Authority has worked to help people affected by the fire in restoration and rebuilding.

In doing so it has had to balance the desire of many to get on with the job as quickly as possible against safety needs and long-term considerations about the design of the city and the buildings within it to withstand future fires. It has also been concerned to advise people rebuilding their homes how to get the best from the land and building on it.

The day after the fire ACTPLA (formerly Planning and Land Management) helped set up a cross-government and industry Property Assessment and Recovery Team.

The team, called PART, had up to 50 organisations represented.

The Bushfire Coordinator at the ACT Planning and Land Authority, Ros Chivers, said the PART meetings ensured that a whole range of organisations knew what was happening across the recovery effort at the same time.

She said that a quick trawl of the PART meeting would reveal updates on restoring essential services of electricity, water and gas; site inspections and data collection; demolition and development approval, insurance, housing and new offers of help.
Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_how planners coped with fire area”

The January fires burnt out 10,500 hectares of ACT Forests’ commercial pine plantations. All 24 staff of ACT Forests – all trained in fire-fighting – helped fight the fires. Now they are working on the recovery.

ACT Forests estimates the loss of about seven million trees will cost $50 million. Damage to buildings was $10 million.

ACT Forests has been faced with the task of clearing and restoring the forests and trying to regain some of the recreation uses of its forests.

Only 5500 hectares of ACT Forests plantations were untouched – the plantations at Kowen, Fairbairn, Majura and Tuggeranong

The director of ACT Forests, Tony Bartlett, said that since the fires ACT Forests had managed to salvage 68,000 tonnes from the burnt plantations and produced 15,000 tonnes of chips produced for biofuel for sale to companies like Visy at Tumut. Revenue from the salvage has so far been $4 million.

ACT Forests has also cleared a buffer of at least 100 metres wide between the Stromlo plantation and the urban area in Duffy and Holder. This will help alleviate fears of residents in the lead up to the next fire season.
Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_forest recovery”

The January 18 fires cost insurance companies $350.7 million, according to the Insurance Disaster Response Organisation.

It puts it among the top half dozen in the list of Australia’s most costly disasters for the insurance industry and the second most costly fire in Australia’s history. The fires destroyed the most homes on a single day in Australian history.

IDRO National Co-ordinator Christopher Henri said the $350.7 million “contributes to a total of more than $9.1 billion of insured losses for natural disasters since 1967, with the largest being $1.7 billion for the April 1999 Sydney hailstorm, followed by the 1989 Newcastle Earthquake at $1.1 billion.”

Other pay-outs (in today’s dollars) include $837 million for the Darwin cyclone and more than $350 for the Ash Wednesday fires in February 1983.

Three thousand home and contents claims arose from the Canberra fires costing $199 million. The 151 commercial and industrial claims will cost an estimated $146.5 million. These included the claims for Mount Stromlo and the pine plantations. The fire claimed 411 motor vehicles costing $4.8 million. Some of the commercial and industrial claims are yet to be finalised, with virtually no domestic claim outstanding.
Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_extent of insurance loss”

The majority of houses destroyed in bushfires survive the passage of the fire front. Wind-borne burning debris causes the most damage.

Direct flame contact and radiant heat can ignite and destroy houses, but they are only significant during the few minutes it takes the fire front to pass.

But houses can be hit by showers of burning debris for hours before and after the fire front passes. Strong winds are a danger, as was evident during the January 18 firestorm.

These facts need to be considered when designing a house.

Burning debris carried on the high winds can ignite houses in several ways. It can pile up against timber used at or near ground level such as stumps, posts, sub-floor enclosures, steps, door and window frames. It can accumulate on timber used for decks, verandahs and pergolas. It can lodge in gaps in and around timber and other combustible materials used for exterior wall cladding, and door and window frames. And burning debris can enter the house through windows broken by heat or flying debris.

The steeper the slope, the faster the fire travels. In the ACT the majority of winds driving bushfires are westerlies, or north westerlies.

The main strategy in protecting a house is to prevent external ignitions, and stop the fire getting inside. Design and material choices can help.

A simple roof design can lessen the risk of bushfire damage and is the easiest to protect. Roofs with intersecting planes and valleys may form dead air pockets where debris and embers collect. Steel roofing is the safest. However, gaps must be sealed or protected to stop ember or spark penetration. Roofing must withstand strong winds and resist dislodgement to prevent the entry of embers.

Roof valleys, dormer windows and skylights provide opportunities for embers to lodge on a roof.

Tiled roofs should be fully sarked and fixed.
Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_design with bushfires in mind”

ACT Bushfire Recovery Centre Community Development Activities

Region Event Partnership
ACT Recovery Centre “Autumn Reflections” – cruise & lunch for elderly19 May 2003

* Canberra Southern Cross Club
* Canberra Cabs
* Anglicare

Dr John Irvine Parenting Forums8 & 9 June 2003

* Lions Clubs of Canberra & District
* Salvation Army
* Parentlink
* Duffy Primary School
* St Judes Primary School

Winter Warming BasketsJune & July 2003

* Uniting Church Parishes of Canberra
* Clints Warehouse

Health & Wellbeing Expo18 July 2003

* Woden Plaza
* Woden Community Services
* Communities@work

Continue reading “2003_07_july_bushfires_community development activities”