The document provides an overview of the 2012/13 fire season briefing. It summarizes the 2011/12 fire season, outlines the key themes and seasonal outlook to be discussed in scenario workshops. It also reviews command and control arrangements, safety procedures, warning systems, resources and additional information sources for the upcoming fire season.

1. 2012/13 Pre Season Briefings
Version 3.0- October 2012

2. 2011/12 Fire Season Review
 Significant rainfall throughout 2011 contributed to the
potential for an elevated grassfire risk- the same is
expected for 2012/13
 Total Fire Bans were declared in parts of the state on 9
days (3 of these were revoked)
 Significant Incidents
– NuPlex Industries chemical incident (Wangaratta): 19 December
2011
– Port of Portland Hazmat Incident: 18 February 2012
– Floods (North East and Gippsland): March 2012
 2011/12 Post Season Review Report
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

3. Key themes
The following key themes will be addressed in the scenario
workshop:
 Predictive Services & Products
 Integrated Initial Attack
 Transfer of Control
 Warnings and Advice
 Evacuation
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

4. Seasonal Outlook
 Seasonal Outlook
– Spring outlook available on the BoM website
– Drier and warmer than normal season expected
– Summer outlook issued by BoM in November
– Refer to BoM website and FireWeb for latest
information prior to and during Fire Danger Period.
 Bushfire CRC Fire Note - Southern Australian
Seasonal Bushfire Outlook 2012-13
– Available on the Bushfire CRC website
– Southern Australia is likely to have normal or above
normal fire activity during the 2012-13 fire season.
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

5. FireWeb
Weather
Section
Register
(DSE only)
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

6. Safety
 The fireground is an OH&S workplace of the control agency- but safety is
everybody’s responsibility.
 Actively manage safety. At large and level 3 incidents:
– Appoint a safety officer
– Establish the Medical Services Unit so that OHS incidents and
reports are promptly addressed
– Specifically address safety in the Incident Action Plan and every
briefing
 Watchout for unacceptable risk and put controls in place. Unacceptable
risk may include:
– Crews working near areas of hazardous trees
– Using crews unfamiliar with local or general bushfire risks
– Long hours and tours of duty
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

7. Command and Control Arrangements
Major changes
 Preparedness (seasonal) and Readiness (short term)
arrangements separated and clarified
 The arrangements are generic and the arrangements of
individual agencies are not included (e.g. role of Duty
Officers)
 State and Regional Control Teams now include the
Recovery Coordinator/Manager and the SES Commander
 Emergency Management Teams at each tier (incident,
regional and state) specifically include the Health
Commander.
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

8. Standard Operating Procedures
 Revised Joint SOPs:
– J2.03 IMT Readiness Arrangements
– J3.01 Determining the Control Agency
– J3.08 Appointment of Incident Controllers
– J4.01 Incident Warnings and Advice
 Revised FSC SOP 02/2012- Reporting of Significant
fires/emergencies to Fire Services Commissioner
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

9. Aircraft
 State Fleet comprises 42 contracted aircraft
– Includes three contracted Light Fixed Wing recce aircraft
 Nominated Operational Bases (NOB’s) selected based on matching
aircraft with risk
 Aircraft will position to Fire Readiness Locations as needed based on
forecast outlook and localised risk.
 For further information on Aircraft for this
season please contact Adam Lawson –
Manager State Aircraft Unit
(03) 9412 4888
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

10. Provision of Warnings to the Community
 24/7 warnings support via the SCC (03) 9262 8779
 Location based Emergency Alert- Telstra only for 2012/13
 OSOM multilingual warnings
− Greek - Arabic
− Chinese - Vietnamese
− Italian
 CFA/RFS cross border
messaging
 Vulnerable persons register
− Web based registers
− Available by Summer 2012
− Accessible to Victoria Police
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

11. Sirens
 In May 2012 the State Government released a policy for the Use of
Sirens for Brigade and Community Alerting
 Under the Policy, if a siren is activated, the sound will have one of the
following meanings:
− BRIGADE - A short, 90-second signal will alerting fire brigade
members to attend emergency callouts.
− COMMUNITY - A prolonged, 5-minute signal will indicate an
emergency in the local area and people should ‘seek further
information’
 A pilot will be undertaken at selected sites this summer (locations still
being decided)
 The focus is to provide the ability for three levels of activation:
− Automatically through OSOM or EA warnings platforms
− EAS paging system
− Manual activation
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

12. Fire Agency Access Through TMPs
 White CFA Volunteer stickers are no longer
available and replaced by CFA Member
photo ID cards
 Bushfire Information Card has been re-
issued with no changes
 CFA-DSE Formal Identification Sheet has
been re-issued with no changes
 Guidelines for the Operation of TMPs
during bushfires has been re-issued with
no changes
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

13. eMap
 Replaces FireMap and EIMS Mapper on a common
platform
 Uses Australian All Hazard map symbols
 Includes Phoenix, Firescan and satellite hot spots
 Includes field data capture (offline) tools
 Live data feeds including road closures, weather, resource
tracking and river heights
 New map backdrop used
(Mapscape)
 High quality map printing
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

14. State Resource Request System
 Resources Unit members at Incident, Regional and State
level can submit, action and track requests for additional
resources during major incidents and planned burning.
 All Resources Unit personnel, as well as those involved in
the dispatch of appliances, must complete an online
training session to ensure that they are familiar with the
system.
 For further information (including access)
refer to page 46 in the Handbook
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

15. Community Information Guides (CIGs)
 Formerly known as Township
Protection Plans
 Current TPPs remain valid for
distribution
 Future guides and those available
on the CFA website will be
updated to CIGs
 Also available by calling VBIL
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

16. Local Response Plan- Bushfire
 Combines existing Bushfire Response Plans and Township
Planning Factors into one document to reduce duplication.
 Developed by brigades with support from the local Group,
CFA regions, other emergency services and the
municipality
 Contains local information to enhance initial bushfire or
grassfire operational planning, preparedness and response
 Located on the X drive (CFA ICC drive) and the
Emergency Management Drive (R Drive)
reference/documentation/region/Township Planning
Factors.
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

17. Community Fire Refuges
 Community Fire Refuge pilot underway
 Three pilot sites at East Warburton, Millgrove and
Ferny Creek (all in District 13, all using new
structures on primary school campuses)
 Pilot to test policy, practices, procedures, building
performance, operational issues,
community engagement
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

18. Additional Information
 Victorian Fire Agency Bushfire Handbook- Edition 2
 IMT Toolbox
 FireWeb
 Agency Intranet sites
 FSC website
 SCC Extranet
 Pre Season Update
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012

19. Further Information
 A follow up survey will be emailed to you about 1 week
after this briefing.
 This presentation will be available on the FSC website and
the Emergency Management Drive (R drive).
 For further information, please contact:
− CFA (Jane Schendzielorz – j.schendzielorz@cfa.vic.gov.au)
− DSE (Gary White – gary.white@dse.vic.gov.au)
− MFB (Mark Swiney – mswiney@mfb.vic.gov.au)
− SCC (Cain Trist - cain.trist@firecommissioner.vic.gov.au)
− FSC(Tony Murphy – tony.a.murphy@firecommissioner.vic.gov.au)
2012/13 Regional Briefings
Version 3.0 – 5 October 2012