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Speaker 1: Joining us in the studio right now is the Assistant

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Speaker 1: Chief Fire Officer, Joshua Fisher.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Josh, Good morning, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Good to have you in the studio. We know that

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Speaker 1: really the fire season has already begun, hasn't it. The

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Speaker 1: declaration of that danger period was the twenty eighth of June.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct.

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Speaker 3: So we're well into our bush fire season here in

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Speaker 3: the Top End, and all emergency services personnel, especially our

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Speaker 3: Antierfiest volunteer members, have already given so much this top

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Speaker 3: end fire season, spending time away from families, jobs, and

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Speaker 3: their loved ones.

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Speaker 2: Working to keep the community safe.

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Speaker 1: Do you reckon we're going to have a fairly big

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Speaker 1: fire season given the fact that we had I guess

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Speaker 1: we had quite a bit of rain. Generally we see

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Speaker 1: quite a bit of growth around the place and then

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Speaker 1: as it dries out, becomes sort of what would you

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Speaker 1: call it, fuel for fires?

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Speaker 2: Yes, certainly so.

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Speaker 3: The top end wildfires this year being fueled by the

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Speaker 3: high levels of growth that following that increased rainfall experience

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Speaker 3: from sweat season. So this growth presents a significant challenge

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Speaker 3: for landholders and our firefighters because fires can easily start

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Speaker 3: and then move very quickly, which often catches people off

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Speaker 3: guard that we are for certain areas of the top

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Speaker 3: end in an above normal bush fire potential resulting from

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Speaker 3: that increased grass growth. We do have reduced areas that

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Speaker 3: have been mitigated this year, particularly in our dah and Ara,

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Speaker 3: So there's lots of grass fuel around that can pose

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Speaker 3: a risk to us.

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Speaker 1: And then what about that gamber grass as well. I

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Speaker 1: know that like out in the rural area particularly, it's

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Speaker 1: something that people generally always kind of raise, like always

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Speaker 1: say to us that they're worried about the gamber grass.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly gamber grass, as we know, presents very much

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Speaker 3: an increased risk to our firefighters, but also the risk

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Speaker 3: that it could pose to the community with respect to

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Speaker 3: damage to property or injury or loss of life even

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Speaker 3: and so fire weather conditions will worsen through August, that's

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Speaker 3: a track that generally happens. So it's really important that

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Speaker 3: we need to keep or property owners need to keep

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Speaker 3: their property prepared. They need to have a bushfire survival

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Speaker 3: plant that's up to date and discussed with their family

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Speaker 3: and through anyone that's at their household, whether there's visitors

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Speaker 3: visiting from interstate or from anywhere else.

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Speaker 2: In the territory.

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Speaker 1: Is it too late? You know, I know that people

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Speaker 1: in the rural area are much more switched on than

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Speaker 1: this stuff than I am. But is it too late

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Speaker 1: for them to be doing different stuff on their blocks

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Speaker 1: now to make sure that they're prepared or is it

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Speaker 1: still Is it still an opportunity for them to do so?

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Speaker 2: No, there's still an opportunity.

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Speaker 3: Very basic tasks I keeping their launch cut and clearing

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Speaker 3: overhanging tree branches or any leaf litter you know that

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Speaker 3: may save their home or possession to for fire dustrit

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Speaker 3: nostri season. So land owners need to be managing their

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Speaker 3: property for five year round.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, I know that already, since the twenty eighth

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Speaker 1: of June, you guys have already gone out to two

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Speaker 1: hundred and forty six wildfires. Is the figure that I've seen?

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Speaker 1: That seems like a large number already, is it?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it certainly is two hundred forty six wild fires

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Speaker 3: since the commencement of the top end fired angel period.

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Speaker 3: That's probably an increase around fifty to sixty than what

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Speaker 3: we'd have normally seen over the last couple of years.

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Speaker 3: So that's certainly reflective of that increased grass growth and

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Speaker 3: reflective of.

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Speaker 2: Some of the less mitigation that has occurred in the

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Speaker 2: daw and ra Gee.

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Speaker 1: Is it going to make it a difficult fire season?

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Speaker 1: This one? Do you reckon it is going to be?

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Speaker 2: Well?

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Speaker 3: Certainly, if fires to occur, they're going to be extremely

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Speaker 3: difficult for us to contain. And as I mentioned there,

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Speaker 3: as we move into August, we're going to see that

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Speaker 3: fire where the conditions worsened, so they will be quite

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Speaker 3: difficult for us and our career and our volunteer crews

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Speaker 3: to contain and keep people safe.

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Speaker 1: I know that, you know obviously when you talk about August,

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Speaker 1: it's going to be a difficult month. And I did

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Speaker 1: catch up with Mark Spain, the chief fire officer, not

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Speaker 1: so long ago, and we spoke about the fact that

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Speaker 1: the fireworks celebrations are going to be the twenty ninth

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Speaker 1: of August. Now, if there is a fireband declared, there's

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Speaker 1: people aren't going to be able to let off their fireworks.

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Speaker 1: Are there to be one of those days where the

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Speaker 1: conditions could potentially be quite difficult?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, every day we assess the risk.

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Speaker 3: We work with the Bureau of Meteorology and our counterparts

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Speaker 3: of bushfires into to understand what the forecast fire weather

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Speaker 3: is going to do, and from that we make decisions,

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Speaker 3: particularly around de clearing firebands.

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Speaker 2: Now, if fireband does happen to occur on a.

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Speaker 3: Date that's selected for the Territory Day celebrations or Freedom Day,

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Speaker 3: then that will mean wherever that fireband does happen to fall,

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Speaker 3: then the use of fireworks is illegal. You cannot no

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Speaker 3: person shall cause a fire to be lit in the

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Speaker 3: open portion Lorden territories. That includes the use of angle

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Speaker 3: grind is anything that can cause sparks, even engines that

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Speaker 3: don't have fitted spark arrestors, so old petrol engines on

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Speaker 3: law mowers or chainsaws, etc. So the use of them

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Speaker 3: is illegal during a fire band period, so that we

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Speaker 3: can reduce the risk of any fires occurring.

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Speaker 1: Now I know, we did just have a call from

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Speaker 1: a listener by the look of it, Sue asking about

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Speaker 1: her neighbors really long grass and what they can do

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Speaker 1: about it if there's I mean, if you've got a

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Speaker 1: neighbor who maybe hasn't taken care of their property as

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Speaker 1: well as what you do, what can you do about it?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly you can make those referrals to our fire

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Speaker 3: investigation prevention team, it's really important that ural property owners

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Speaker 3: are managing their property for fire, so they have a

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Speaker 3: fire break installed, but they're also managing that accumulation of

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Speaker 3: flammable material is what we would call it. So Grass

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Speaker 3: you already this top end dry season, our officers have

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Speaker 3: inspected properties right throughout the Dale and rural area within

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Speaker 3: our emergency response areum. We've issued approximately two hundred notices

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Speaker 3: to landholders who have not yet been compliant to that direction.

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Speaker 3: So that's for both firebreak installation and also for accumulation

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Speaker 3: of flammable material.

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Speaker 1: Once they get that notice, the people then generally pretty cooperative.

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Speaker 3: For yeah, generally about eighty percent will take eat of

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Speaker 3: that notice and they'll take the appropriate action whatever's been

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Speaker 3: identified by the officers having a look at their property.

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Speaker 3: But as a result of those notices that we have

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Speaker 3: issued today, further twenty infringements have already been issued and

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Speaker 3: works on going. Where we've got ReCl landowners that choose

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Speaker 3: to do nothing, we're working through that to take further

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Speaker 3: action against them.

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Speaker 1: And so really if they're not going to do anything,

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Speaker 1: they could copy.

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Speaker 3: Fine more than a fine potentially, So the fine is

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Speaker 3: just one stage in that enforcement action. We can take

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Speaker 3: additional action against those landowners, and we're currently assessing those

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Speaker 3: for those property owners that choose to do the wrong thing,

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Speaker 3: because the important thing here with those recultrant landowners, not

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Speaker 3: only are they putting themselves in their community risks, but

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Speaker 3: they're also putting our fire fighters at risks they have

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Speaker 3: to enter their properties.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, I know that last week, I think it

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Speaker 1: was on McMillan's there was a fire there. You guys

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Speaker 1: have sent us through a photo. It looks like it

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Speaker 1: was pretty significant and asen our is spent controlling it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly a significant fire that day that did result

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Speaker 3: in use of aircraft to assist our ground crews in

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Speaker 3: establishing containment lines. So it was burning and that Robinson's

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Speaker 3: Barracks estate there, and yeah, although it was pretty mild conditions,

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Speaker 3: you know, it's reflective the increasing grass growth that we've

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Speaker 3: got how quickly and fast a fire will move even

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Speaker 3: on a more mild a day. So it wasn't a

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Speaker 3: firebn DA, We didn't have extreme fire danger, but yet

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Speaker 3: that fire still post significant risk and was quite a

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Speaker 3: challenge for our crews. So certainly I think we had

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Speaker 3: about four aircraft assisting our firefighters with that as well

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Speaker 3: as our career staff through Darwin and our volunteers.

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Speaker 1: And I understand that there was also a fire where

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Speaker 1: well the volunteer firefighters and also I believe your cruise

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Speaker 1: went out and saved a property. Was that last Thursday?

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Speaker 3: I think that one was back on a twenty July

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Speaker 3: and at bees Creek, and yeah, we had around seven

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Speaker 3: fire units there, a mix of career and volunteers. And look,

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Speaker 3: it really was such great feedback to received from that landowner.

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Speaker 3: It's quite heartwarming to receive this knowing that our people

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Speaker 3: are out in the community each and every day making

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Speaker 3: a difference. But I guess important message here and to

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Speaker 3: go back to our firebreaks, you know, this could have

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Speaker 3: been a very different story. If that property wasn't prepared,

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Speaker 3: didn't have their firebreaks installed, didn't have a plan in place,

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Speaker 3: we might not have been seeing such great feedback because

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Speaker 3: their property could have been severely damaged.

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Speaker 1: Well, and I guess you know, if you're a towny

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Speaker 1: like me, you probably don't know exactly what needs to

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Speaker 1: be done to prepare your property. But for a lot

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Speaker 1: of our rural landowners, they have got a very good

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Speaker 1: idea of what they need to do. Is there somewhere though,

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Speaker 1: Like if somebody, let's say, has just bought a property

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Speaker 1: out in the rural area and they're not one hundred

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Speaker 1: percent or exactly what they need to do to make

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Speaker 1: sure that they are prepared, is there somewhere they can

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Speaker 1: go with someone they can actually have a chat to

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Speaker 1: even to try and sort it all out.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a couple of great tools that new property

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Speaker 3: owners or even old properly owners that just want to

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Speaker 3: do a little bit more can go to. They can

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Speaker 3: go to the Police Fire Emergency Services web page and

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Speaker 3: click on to the Fire and Rescue Service and in

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Speaker 3: there's a really good property bush via planning guide that

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Speaker 3: talks about the steps that land owners need to take

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Speaker 3: or land occupy need to take to prepare their property.

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Speaker 3: But also reaching out to our volunteers. You know, volunteers

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Speaker 3: live in the community, they understand the risk in that

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Speaker 3: local area, and they're a really great asset to be

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Speaker 3: able to work with to identify what property owners can

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Speaker 3: do to protect themselves.

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Speaker 1: And are you always i mean, are we always looking

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Speaker 1: for volunteer firefighters? If there's somebody listening this morning who

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Speaker 1: thinks he I've actually worked as a volunteer firey interstate

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Speaker 1: or I'd been really keen to sort of learn.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly, our volunteer brigades will always accept new members.

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Speaker 3: We're always accepting applications from members of the community who

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Speaker 3: wish to volunteer.

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Speaker 2: You know, there is a variety of roles.

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Speaker 3: There's some training that we can get them if they

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Speaker 3: haven't ever volunteered before in that space, So certainly approach

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Speaker 3: their local volunteer brigade or get in contact with the

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Speaker 3: Fine and Riscue Service.

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Speaker 1: Well, it does sound like it's going to be a busy,

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Speaker 1: busy fire season for you guys. We always appreciate you

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Speaker 1: coming in. Josh, thank you so much for your time

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you.

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Speaker 1: It is the assistant chief fire Officer there, Josh Fishing.

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Speaker 1: Now it