Wendy Bearfoot inquest: fire trucks ill equipped

Wendy Bearfoot inquest: fire trucks ill equipped

22 June 2017

Portugal – THE death of firefighter Wendy Bearfoot who perished in a vehicle burn-over during the devastating Black Cat Creek bushfire five years ago was caused by a combination of a lack of resources, lack of training and a critical failure in communicating a forecast wind change which proved fatal, a coroner has found.

Mrs Bearfoot and several other firefighters were burnt after their trucks were trapped in the fires path and engulfed in flames during the Black Cat Creek bushfire in October 2012.

The mother of three was so severely burnt the only place her husband could kiss her before she died in hospital three weeks later was on her eyelids.

Today, coroner Sarah Linton handed down her findings into the death of Mrs Bearfoot, which she said was still being keenly felt in Albany.

And in concluding that a combination of factors led to Mrs Bearfoot and colleagues finding themselves in a dead mans zone when the wind changed, the coroner praised the bravery of Mrs Bearfoot on October 12, along with those with her at the time, and all those that battle bushfires across WA.

Three of Mrs Bearfoot’s DPAW colleagues – Shaun McHenry, Charlene Dekker and Timothy Wellstead – were also significantly burnt when they were unable to escape the fire path after a sudden wind change.

Wendy Bearfoot died after bravely putting her own life in jeopardy to try to contain a fire that was threatening bushland and wildlife, Ms Linton said.

Such duties were part of her employment, but it still requires bravery and commitment to the service of others to do what she did. Sadly, her efforts to help the community of Albany led to her death.

Ms Linton noted that since the fire, various agencies have put in place their own inquiries and upgrades to systems, in order to prevent another similar tragedy.

Those included improved safety equipment, particularly designed to protect firefighters in the event of burnovers and simplified weather forecast material and better training for those required to interpret it.

The changes implemented by the various agencies involved after the Black Cat Creek Fire tragedy are intended to allow fires to be responded to in a safer and more efficient manner I sincerely hope that this proves to be the case, Ms Linton said.

During the inquest last year, evidence was heard how the trapped firefighters tried to flee in their vehicles but their engines stopped and would not restart. They sheltered in the trucks until the fire moved over and then sought refuge under a fire blanket.

However, when Mrs Bearfoot left her truck, she was hit by intense heat and flames and was separated from the others.

She was later found walking in the fire ground “disorientated and severely burnt” before she was flown to the burns unit at Royal Perth Hospital, where she died three weeks later.

The inquest was told the DPAW fire trucks used in the 2012 bushfire were ill-equipped to deal with a burn-over. They did not have radiant heat shields or in-cabin breathing apparatus and the windshields fell in because of the extreme heat.

DPAW district fire coordinator Vince Hilder said the safety equipment in the fire trucks, as well as staff training around what to do in a burn-over had improved significantly since Mrs Bearfoot’s death.

Tropical peat swamp forests, which once occupied large swaths of Southeast Asia and other areas, provided a significant “sink” that helped remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But such forests have been disappearing fast due to clear-cutting and drainage projects making way for plantations. Now, research shows peatlands face another threat, as climate change alters rainfall patterns, potentially destroying even forested peatlands that remain undrained.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-06-peatlands-dwindling-losses.html#jCpTropical peat swamp forests, which once occupied large swaths of Southeast Asia and other areas, provided a significant “sink” that helped remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But such forests have been disappearing fast due to clear-cutting and drainage projects making way for plantations. Now, research shows peatlands face another threat, as climate change alters rainfall patterns, potentially destroying even forested peatlands that remain undrained.

22. June 2017/by GFMCadmin