Greek Tragedy has Lessons for NZ Fire Administration

The New Zealand Institute of Forestry Inc (NZIF) says that much can be learned from the current Greek fire tragedy during the current Fire Service review being conducted by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). The Institute is concerned that the DIA has ignored first round submissions, which overwhelmingly rejected the DIA’s favoured Option 1 proposal, with its centralised, command and control focused structure.

“The recent fires in Greece and in the Australian Capital Territory in 2003 caused more damage than was necessary and cost more lives, because rural fire management was deficient.” says NZIF President Jaquetta (Ket) Bradshaw, “Our very real concern is that the changes proposed by Minister Barker and the DIA will lead to the same deficiencies evident in the Greek and ACT fire tragedies.”

Chief among the Institute’s concerns are the loss of rural fire management focus on risk reduction (through such actions as monitoring and building community awareness), maintaining readiness, response, and recovery (the four R’s), as well as the loss of expertise, institutional knowledge, and cooperative community relations that are essential to the effectiveness of rural fire management. The DIA’s view is that cost-efficiencies and operational effectiveness will be improved by a single organisation with centralised control.

“The overseas experience demonstrates that what actually happens is a loss of prevention emphasis, less willingness to listen to local expertise, an increase in costs, a decrease in effectiveness and a loss of environmental values, rural livelihoods, and even life,” states Ms Bradshaw. “This is clearly unacceptable, and we implore the Minister to listen to the advice he is being given by the Institute and other professional bodies through their submissions on the DIA proposals.”

The Institute believes that the present system is effective and cost-efficient, and which only needs a “tweak or two”, not wholesale restructuring.

“If the Minister doesn’t listen, then there is the risk that New Zealand will experience its own fire tragedy, and nobody wants that.”

ENDS

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