Charlotte Varcoe
MORE than $1.2 million will be injected into fire risk management across the Limestone Coast with the Australian Government’s Disaster Ready Fund announced.
The funding aims to improve the nation’s resilience and reduce risk to natural disasters.
Two projects within the Limestone Coast received a share in the funding with Burrandies Aboriginal Corporation receiving more than $417,00 to go towards the purchase of equipment for the organisation’s fire crew to undertake Fire Batement work on Aboriginal managed lands and other land tenders.
A further $425,000 has been injected from a co-contributor to make up the total $842,874 for the project.
Grant District Council will also receive more than $204,000 to assist in replacing the current existing 1960’s built aerial water bombing water tanks at the Mount Gambier Regional Airport.
The current water tanks supply lifesaving firefighting protection to the local community and industries.
The total cost of the project is more than $416,000 with council already spending more than $200,000 on a variety of complimentary works.
Council chief executive officer Darryl Whicker said the works included runway extensions and heavy vehicle apron upgrade to house aircraft alongside minor works with fire hydrants, reels and pumps.
“The Mount Gambier Regional Airport serves the Limestone Coast and so does its infrastructure which plays a vital part in emergency management particularly as a first aerial response to bushfire,” Mr Whicker said.
“We will replace the water bomb tanks with council and airport staff working collaboratively with emergency services which has happened for a number of years.”
He said the tank has about 150 kiloliters of capacity for first response and aerial bombers.
“The six aerial bombers comprise of air tractors or air observing helicopters which are stationed at Mount Gambier Regional Airport during the fire period,” he said.
“We have always had that capacity in place but the tanks were at the end of their useful life and were due for renewal.”
He said it was “widely documented” that bushfire events in the region without aerial water bombing was identified under NERAG assessments as an “intolerable risk”.
“This is something that needs to be done with urgency to ensure the capacity for the Limestone Coast and parts of Western Victoria was maintained now and into the future,” he said.
“There will be some works to decommission the existing tanks infrastructure and make it safe and to create that new water capacity is maintained.”
Mr Whicker noted the importance of having water bombing equipment and water tanks available following the Crater Lakes fire last year.
“This acts as a key control for fire mitigation and it ensures that this control will be in place for many decades to come,” he said.
“With climate change upon us and the change in weather patterns which will heighten those extreme fire days, the sheer amount of support we have had from the Limestone Coast zone emergency department management committee, the seven Limestone Coast councils and airport staff and agencies demonstrated this was a critical infrastructure that if it was unable to be maintained, would leave an intolerable risk to the community.”
He said council wrote letters supporting Burrandies’ funding which could “demonstrate new opportunities and new controls” and would further support bushfire management.
“We are incredibly proud of the partnerships and work of staff to apply for this grant application and the demonstration of partnerships with the strong support from council’s zone emergency management committee, response agents and emergency response agencies as well as members of Parliament,” he said.