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Speaker 1: As you would have heard yesterday as I was getting

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Speaker 1: ready to wrap up the show, we cut back in

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Speaker 1: because emergency services were yesterday responding to this train derailment

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Speaker 1: southwest of Catherine. Multiple carriages derailed after the train collided

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Speaker 1: with a heavy vehicle. Now, the derailment saw a fire

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Speaker 1: which then broke out. It was contained with the help

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Speaker 1: of water a water bombing helicopter, as I understand it.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio to tell us a

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Speaker 1: bit more is the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Joshua Fisher.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you, josh Good morning Katie. It sounds

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Speaker 1: like it was pretty full on day yesterday.

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Speaker 2: What happened?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So what we know at this point is around

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Speaker 3: eleven am we received reports that a freight train had

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Speaker 3: derailed after colliding with the truck at the crossing through

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Speaker 3: Florina Florina Road in Cossack, just outside of Catherine. Four

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Speaker 3: people did receive minor injuries and were conveyed to the

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Speaker 3: Catherine District Hospital for treatment. What we know and seeing

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Speaker 3: footage from the scene, it is really credible that we're

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Speaker 3: not talking about deceased people as a result of this

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Speaker 3: incident or more significant injuries, but a number of carriages

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Speaker 3: have come off the train tracks and a fire did

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Speaker 3: result and did spread into some bush land, and we

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Speaker 3: had a multi agency response in terms of fine rescue

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Speaker 3: service bushfires int We also had firefighters from the Royal

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Speaker 3: Australian Air Force attend with their specialist firefighting appliance that

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Speaker 3: could deliver blok foam, so a significant amount of foam's

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Speaker 3: gone onto the area to allow us to gain access

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Speaker 3: and obviously then start to undertake that impact assessment. We

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Speaker 3: had some early concerns around possible what we call a

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Speaker 3: blevy so it's a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. Just

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Speaker 3: due to the nature of what was involved and some

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Speaker 3: of the vessels that were there to transport diesel and

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Speaker 3: other substances, that was an immediate risk crust, so an

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Speaker 3: exclusion zone was put in place. There was obviously road closures,

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Speaker 3: evacuations took place on the ground by police for residents

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Speaker 3: and people that may have been by the incident. Thankfully, though,

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Speaker 3: through the efforts of all those that were on the scene,

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Speaker 3: were able to avoid that quickly, get the situation under

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Speaker 3: control and now we're going through that impact assessment recovery.

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Speaker 1: Now talk us through firstly, how many members and how

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Speaker 1: many staff were actually required out there to get this

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Speaker 1: under control.

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Speaker 3: Look, I couldn't put a number on the amount of

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Speaker 3: people we had represented from police, emergency Services, fine Rescue, Bushfires, INT.

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Speaker 3: There's also representation and a National Rail Safety Regulator, work Safe,

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Speaker 3: Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority, Department WHO, Infrastructure Planning and Logistics.

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Speaker 4: This really was a multi agency response.

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Speaker 2: It sounds as though it was actually a pretty major emergency.

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Speaker 4: It was.

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Speaker 1: Yes, tell me you'd said before, you know that there

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Speaker 1: was a number of different number of different things that

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Speaker 1: needed to be done to make sure that there was

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Speaker 1: no threat to those people living nearby. How quickly were

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Speaker 1: you able to sort of assess that it was going

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Speaker 1: to be okay, Yes, there was a fire, but you

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Speaker 1: could get that under control and that there wasn't that

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Speaker 1: threat to others nearby.

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Speaker 3: Once we're able to suppress the fire that was obviously

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Speaker 3: some of the carriages that were on fire, we're able

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Speaker 3: to remove that risk and then gain access to start

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Speaker 3: to piece together what has happened and then to work

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Speaker 3: out the next step. So, you know, through the efforts

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Speaker 3: of everyone that was on scene yesterday, you know, some

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Speaker 3: really critical decisions were made, some very experienced people on

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Speaker 3: the ground.

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Speaker 4: They're making those decisions.

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Speaker 3: You know, that exclusion zone was necessary in that the

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Speaker 3: immediate response, so that we could get in there and understand.

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Speaker 3: Once we've got those specialist resources in we're able to

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Speaker 3: quickly get on top of the situation.

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Speaker 1: So, Josh, it seems as though it's a freight train

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Speaker 1: and also a heavy vehicle. What's the you know, what

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Speaker 1: is the impact to those vehicles? Now you've said that,

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Speaker 1: thankfully no loss of life, but injuries and they are

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Speaker 1: obviously those four people with minor injuries taken to the hospital.

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Speaker 2: But tell us the impact to those vehicles.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so we're obviously still trying to piece together all

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Speaker 3: the information, but there's upwards of ten carriages that have

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Speaker 3: left the train tracks. We've got damage to the train

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Speaker 3: tracks itself. Obviously there was a heavy vehicle involved and

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Speaker 3: damage as a result of that. So it's going to

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Speaker 3: take some time for us to be able to understand.

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Speaker 3: I guess some timelines around when the rail corridor will

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Speaker 3: be open again and access through Florina Road. As I mentioned,

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Speaker 3: there's representatives on the ground today. There is a crime

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Speaker 3: scene established by police and they're working diligently this morning

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Speaker 3: to try and understand what's next.

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Speaker 1: How critical is that rous, you know, how critical is

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Speaker 1: it going to be as well when we talk about

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Speaker 1: our freight needs and different things being transported to Darwin

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Speaker 1: and the territory.

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Speaker 3: Look, our rail infrastructure is quite critical to us here

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Speaker 3: right across the Northern Territory and bring in freight from

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Speaker 3: South Australia up to the Northern Territory as well as

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Speaker 3: passing services. That's why we've got those representatives on the

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Speaker 3: ground to try and work out the recovery operation and

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Speaker 3: how we can safely go about that and then estimate

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Speaker 3: the time that it's going to take to repair. But

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Speaker 3: even just the access through Florina Road is quite critical

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Speaker 3: that Obviously there's residential rural residence you're living through there,

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Speaker 3: there's a community, we've got agriculture, there's a whole heap

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Speaker 3: of stuff that happens through there. And at the present

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Speaker 3: we've got a detour established along the rail corridor and

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Speaker 3: to shad Forth laying back onto Florina Road for effectively

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Speaker 3: rural residents. But it can't take heavy.

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Speaker 1: Vehicles and so when you talk about those delays, not

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Speaker 1: look I know that you're you're our deputy chief fire officer,

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Speaker 1: not in charge of freight and transport, But are we

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Speaker 1: expecting delays to our groceries and other critical things as

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Speaker 1: a result of this?

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Speaker 3: Look, I don't think there's any cause for alarm at

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Speaker 3: this point in time. You know, in the coming hours

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Speaker 3: we'll start to understand what those impacts are. But I

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Speaker 3: think it's too early to say if there's going to

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Speaker 3: be any great impact. We just need to work out

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Speaker 3: the timelines it's going to take to clear the rail

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Speaker 3: corridor and obviously repair the track, and.

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Speaker 1: So we'll have a bit of a better idea by

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Speaker 1: this arvo that's correct. Now, tell me how long are

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Speaker 1: we expecting the diversions to be in place.

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Speaker 3: The diversions will be in place for as long as

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Speaker 3: it takes to clear the rail track and obviously make

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Speaker 3: safe the crossing.

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Speaker 2: So what's the main priority for you guys today?

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Speaker 3: So, for fire and rescue service, we're still maintaining a

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Speaker 3: fire watch through this recovery process to ensure that there's

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Speaker 3: no recognition obviously of the bush land or of any

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Speaker 3: of the carriages as they're recovered. There is a crime

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Speaker 3: scene established, and so Police are working with a number

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Speaker 3: of investigators obviously from work Safe NT, the National rail

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Speaker 3: Safety Regulator, and obviously represents from the Environment Protection Authority.

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Speaker 3: There's a crime scene established, there is a call for

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Speaker 3: information for anyone that may have information, DASH can footage

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Speaker 3: that they can provide that to police.

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Speaker 1: And Josh, some people listening, we'll be thinking, crime scene established?

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Speaker 1: Is that a normal process at this point in time

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Speaker 1: when you've got a major crash.

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Speaker 4: Like this, that's a normal process.

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Speaker 1: Yes, Now tell me I know that it sounds as

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Speaker 1: though there's going to be a lot of very critical

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Speaker 1: work that gets underway out there. To those people that

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Speaker 1: would usually use that road or thinking to themselves, you know,

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Speaker 1: how long is this going to take to sort of

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Speaker 1: clear up?

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Speaker 2: What's your message to them?

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Speaker 3: Look, if you've got no reason to travel out there,

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Speaker 3: we're asking people to avoid the area. There is obviously

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Speaker 3: a diversion in place. It is a temporary diversion. It

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Speaker 3: isn't a sealed road, so it is for rural residents

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Speaker 3: and people that must travel out to onto Florina Road.

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Speaker 3: So obviously follow all directions that are provided by police

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Speaker 3: on scene or anyone else that's given Any instructions. If

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Speaker 3: you don't need to travel out there, don't travel out

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Speaker 3: there at this time.

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Speaker 1: Now, Josh tell us yesterday as well, there seemed to

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Speaker 1: be quite a few fires out towards the Palmerston area,

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Speaker 1: or there was a lot of smoke out there.

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Speaker 2: Anyway, how have things been going.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Look, we're well into the top fire season now.

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Speaker 3: It's really critical that rural residents right across Catherine up

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Speaker 3: into daw And that they have their firebreaks established. It's

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Speaker 3: not too late to put them in place. We are

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Speaker 3: out inspecting at present, and there will be a zero

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Speaker 3: tolerance for rural landholders that do not wish to comply

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Speaker 3: with the Foreign Emergency Act and the requirements to have

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Speaker 3: an established firebreak. We have seen in increasing fire activity.

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Speaker 3: There's still lots of plan burning that's happening both in

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Speaker 3: our emergency response area and in the broader top end

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Speaker 3: by landowners and bushfires NT. This is really critical work

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Speaker 3: to obviously protect us as we move into the later

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Speaker 3: part of the dry season, but certainly it is starting

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Speaker 3: to get busy for.

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Speaker 1: Us, and I guess in terms of then dealing with

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Speaker 1: the emergency situation that was unfolding yesterday and those other

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Speaker 1: fires and the other things that are happening at the moment.

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Speaker 1: Keeping our fire is busy. Was it a tough juggle?

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Speaker 4: Look, it is a tough juggle. You know.

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Speaker 3: We are a small fire service and so we need

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Speaker 3: to prioritize in our activities and that's why we strongly

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Speaker 3: urge the public to make sure they've got a fire

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Speaker 3: plan in place, They've got their fire breaks established and

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Speaker 3: well maintained to give us the best chance to get

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Speaker 3: in there and protect life and property.

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Speaker 1: Is there quite a few of those planned burns I guess,

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Speaker 1: you know, scheduled for the moment.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, there's a number, and a lot of them

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Speaker 3: are occurring on vacant cran land and that's work undertaken

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Speaker 3: by a contractor on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure,

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Speaker 3: Planning Logistics.

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Speaker 4: Lordn Territory.

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Speaker 3: Fine Rescue Service provides support to DIPPLE and their contractor

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Speaker 3: to provide advice and obviously necessary permits to be able

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Speaker 3: to undertake the work safely. But there's a number of

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Speaker 3: other burns that are happening through parks and wildlife in

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Speaker 3: the Greater Darwen region. The majority of the smoke though

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Speaker 3: that we are seen is from bigger broadscape fires or

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Speaker 3: planned burns that are occurrence. There's lots of aerial burning

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Speaker 3: that's happening south of Darwin and through into Arnhem Land.

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Speaker 3: Lots of good work done by Aboriginal ranger groups and

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Speaker 3: pastoral landholders necessary to obviously protect their interests as they

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Speaker 3: move into the dry.

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Speaker 1: Josh very quick one before I let you go. Territory

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Speaker 1: Day it's still a couple of weeks away. Is it

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Speaker 1: too early? Is early for us to know how those

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Speaker 1: conditions are going to be looking and what we can expect.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a little bit too early to understand whether

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Speaker 3: there's going to be any real increased fire risk on

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Speaker 3: that day. But those precautions that we take every year

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Speaker 3: to ensure we celebrate Territory Day the safe way and

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Speaker 3: to follow the manufacturer's directions on those fireworks. You know,

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Speaker 3: it is a busy period for us. We see significant

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Speaker 3: increasing fires occurring. We ask people that they're safe and

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Speaker 3: they take the necessary precautions well.

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Speaker 1: Joshua Fisher, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, always good to

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Speaker 1: speak with you.

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Speaker 2: Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

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Speaker 4: Thanks Catie