Ingle Farm’s emergency hero
Ingle Farm’s emergency hero
18 June 2012
published by http://news-review-messenger.whereilive.com.au
Australia –– RESIDENTS across the country have Ian Mannix to thank for developing the first radio warning system when danger threatens peoples lives and homes.
The Ingle Farm resident is the ABC’s national radio manager of emergency broadcasting and community development.
His role is to coordinate and communicate information to the public during and following emergencies such as floods, bushfires and natural disasters.
“We are often the first people to broadcast information about the event, as emergency agencies are unable to do so until the event is underway,” Mr Mannix says.
“The service is vitally important to help save property and lives during difficult times.”
Mr Mannix was awarded a Public Service Medal in this month’s Queen’s Birthday Honours for his commitment to community safety.
“The things that still surprise me the most is how we still don’t fully understand how powerful bushfires, floods and natural weather events can be,” he says.
“Events such as fires and floods have significant personal and financial impacts on communities and I feel very empathetic towards those people affected by such tragic events.”
Mr Mannix was working as a radio broadcaster during the 1997 Dandenong Ranges bushfires.
“Peoples’s lives were in danger so I rang the fire department to find out more information but they couldn’t give me anything,” he says.
The fires, which killed three people and destroyed 43 homes, prompted Mr Mannix to work with emergency agencies to develop a emergency broadcasting system.
