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Fire investigators from the Rural Fire Service and the police are still working to find out what started the devastating bushfires at Pappinbarra on Sunday February 12.
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For fire chiefs, the most important message is that every Australian - in countryside, town or city - must have a bushfire survival plan.
Their advice is: have informed discussions with your family about what you’re going to do if a fire approaches. And if you’re going to leave, leave early. If you’re going to stay and defend your home, make sure your property is well-prepared.
It was like someone kicked the doors of hell open for six hours and fire escaped.
- RFS Group Captain John Davison
During the bushfire at Pappinbarra, six homes were lost on three properties, fire crews saved 45 homes, and outside the fire area, another 115 homes were in the direct line of the fire, but were kept safe.
Mid Coast Rural Fire Service District Manager Kam Baker said that on the weekend of February 5, there was a significant lightning storm across the whole of the Mid North Coast which lit 16 fires on the Saturday afternoon.
They got on to some quickly; others were difficult to access.
By Wednesday, the weather bureau started to firm up extreme catastrophic weather for Sunday February 12.
“On the Mid North Coast, we have never been exposed to catastrophic fire weather conditions,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Rural Fire Service started to activate their plan and by Saturday, incident management teams were in place.
There were eight fires in the landscape with containment strategies around them, but they had what the RFS calls a slippery hold.
“By Sunday morning, we were in the best possible position we could be to deal with them.”
Forest Protection Manager Zeb Zejbrlik from the Forestry Corporation of NSW said they were in a heightened state of readiness.
“Forestry had bulldozers ready to be despatched and helicopters ready and their teams were waiting for a phonecall,” he said.
Strike teams were positioned all over the Mid North Coast - RFS, Fire & Rescue, Forestry and National Parks.
They all knew that it wasn’t a matter of if something happened; it was a matter of when.
The RFS had a strike team at Ocean Valley Road in Pappinbarra because they knew the winds were going to change.
They were afraid the small fire contained there might spread to Beechwood, affecting numerous properties.
“To say we were sitting on razorblades is an understatement,” said RFS Group Captain John Davison.
“We had a strike team of locals at Pappinbarra. Hot spots were smoking. We were worried that if the winds eventuated, they would break the lines.”
On Sunday afternoon, they got a call from 790 Pappinbarra Road. Within 15 minutes, the fire had spread over two hectares; within two hours, it was at 700 hectares. The six properties were lost in the first hour.
Kam Baker said the most important thing on that day was: should any new fire break out, the message was to protect life, warn the community and then protect property.
The message to the public changed from Watch and Act to Emergency Warning and then they told people it was too late to leave, and to shelter in place.
“We didn’t want people on the road. It’s one road in and one road out, and it’s a narrow road,” he said.
They went from house to house and some people had left. Forestry and fire chiefs, Zeb and John paired up and tasked crews to jobs.
By then, the fire was moving very rapidly.
“A spot fire was in front of my vehicle so I had to move quick,” said Zeb.
The air temperature was 45 degrees celsius and the heat was incredibly intense.
“It was like someone kicked the doors of hell open for six hours and fire escaped,” said John.
Burning embers carried by the wind started more spot fires, so the fire was jumping ahead of itself.
Firefighters protecting five properties on Lemon Gum Road ran out of water, so they went back to get more. When they returned, the fire had advanced 500 metres.
“It was bedlam,” said John.
Zeb said the fire was moving incredibly quickly.
Kam added: “While they were dealing with the here and now, we were gathering intelligence.”
A Lear Jet plane did an infrared line scan to show where the fire was. The incident management team was gathering intelligence to deploy resources and work out a plan for the next 24 hours to bring the fire under control.
“Those types of days are days when you’re purely reactionary to any type of fire,” said Kam.
“Then we work out our control strategy.”
They were also pushing information out to the community, power crews, Essential Energy, local land services, fodder and stock people.
“A catastrophic event like that is very draining on our people, very emotional for our firefighters from every agency, especially those who live in the area,” said Kam Baker.
John Davison, who lives in Pappinbarra, was on duty from 6am on Sunday until 2am on Monday, and when he went home, his head was spinning and there was no power in his house. He woke at 6am and saw columns of black smoke.
RFS Group Officer Bruce Blackburn, operating at Ocean Valley Road said the wind changed direction and the north-eastern flank of the fire became a head or wall of fire
“It’s a very dangerous situation. We call it a Dead Man Zone. I had just six trucks to protect six homes.”
Although some firefighters collapsed in the heat, thankfully no-one was seriously injured during the emergency, and many more homes were saved than were lost.
Kam Baker said that unfortunately, these sort of events are becoming more frequent.
“We are always looking for volunteers. For an operation like Pappinbarra, we need several shifts. Fires were still burning a week later.”
Looking back, prior preparation and planning were the big successes.
“We never lost a life and we never had a serious injury,” said Kam Baker.
“We are so grateful,” added Zeb.
John said that the authorities can do so much, but the community needs to take responsibility as well.
“The more hands we get, the easier it is for us. Fire prevention and fire safety are community responsibilities.”
To become a volunteer, contact your local rural fire brigade, or CLICK HERE