Victorians most at risk from bushfires believed emergency services could save them, CFA data shows
15 May 2020
Published by https://www.theguardian.com
AUSTRALIA – Residents in Victorian towns at highest risk of bushfire went into the most recent bushfire season – which was unprecedented in intensity and devastation – believing firefighting aircraft and vehicles would save them if their lives and property were under threat.
Documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information reveal 1,042 people in households classified as being at “extreme” bushfire risk were interviewed about their bushfire preparedness as part of research for the Country Fire Authority (CFA).
The survey, conducted by Strahan Consulting in 2018, found that while more than three-quarters (76.5%) of respondents agreed that the threat to their life and property from fires in the near future was “large” or “very large”, 38% believed it was “likely” fire trucks would assist them to defend their property, while 25% said fire trucks would “definitely” come. Almost two-thirds of respondents said they would “likely” or “definitely” get assistance from firefighting aircraft if their home was on fire.
Those who said they would stay and defend property in a fire were most likely to be men aged 65 and over without dependents. Women aged between 45 and 64 years were most likely to believe the risk of bushfire was high, while men aged 65 and above had the highest proportion of those who believed it was “unlikely” a fire would threaten their home.
About one in eight people, 13% of respondents, said they would stay and defend their property. And 43% of respondents said rather than leave early, they would wait until they felt threatened to go.
“Women, more than other groups, had often thought about the threat of bushfires during the bushfire season,” the report said.
“Men, more than others, would wait and see what the fire is like before deciding what to do. Women, more than others, would leave as soon as they knew a fire was threatening their town or suburb.”
Almost three-quarters of respondents said they would “definitely” or “likely” be told exactly when to leave by emergency services.
The summer of 2019-20 was devastating for Victoria. Multiple fires resulted in 34 deaths nationally, including five in Victoria, and huge losses of land and wildlife were recorded. The fires were not contained until March. Among the victims were five firefighters, including three from the US who died when their waterbomber aircraft crashed in northern NSW after losing contact with control crews. More than 2,500 homes were destroyed, including upwards of 300 in Victoria.
Dr Debra Parkinson, a research fellow with Monash University’s Disaster Resilience Initiative, said “people wildly overestimate the ability of the emergency sector to save their properties”.
“For years now, the CFA has warned that there will not be a CFA truck in every driveway in the event of a fire,” she said. “I was really surprised to see that more than a third of respondents still expected this, and especially that almost two-thirds expect a firefighting aircraft.”
Parkinson is among the founders of the Gender & Disaster podcast, which examines the role of gender survivor responses to and emergency management of natural disasters. She said men feel pressure to “protect and provide”, and this was revealed in the survey findings.
“In order to live up to expectations of masculinity, many feel they should stay and try to defend the family home,” she said.
“The kind of fires we have in Australia now, with climate change, means this is an unrealistic expectation. The group of retired fire chiefs who sought a meeting with the prime minister tried to warn Australia that the emergency sector doesn’t know how to put these fires out.
“Our research showed that volunteer firefighters were judged about what they did in the fires – by others in the brigade, by their communities and sometimes by their partner. Some blamed themselves for what they couldn’t do. As the CFA themselves wrote last year, sobriquets of ‘hero’ are very unhelpful – raising the bar even further on what we expect.”
She said her podcast aimed to change these attitudes, and to communicate the reality that bushfires are not controllable. In disaster research, there is a lot written about this notion of “man versus nature” and the notion that “we will prevail”.
“We hear it even in the coronavirus contest,” Parkinson said. “It’s such an egocentric perspective, and one that is premised on privilege – and not realistic.
“I remember reading about some studies that showed men with the most power and status have the least awareness of risk. Privilege and resources are determining factors in how people recover from disasters, but not all bushfires are controllable.”
After Black Saturday, some brigades in fire-affected regions were diminished as volunteers could not face another year fighting fires. The fires of 2019-20 went for months in some parts of Australia, and Parkinson said she is concerned resources will be depleted for the next fire season.
“Firefighters were, and probably still are, exhausted,” she said. “Add to this a winter of Covid-19, and Australia largely turning its back on fire-affected communities and I wonder how our volunteer fire-fighters will stay involved and motivated. The need for increased capacity is clear. Despite being previously excluded through a macho culture, women stepped in to fill the gap in some fire-affected regions after Black Saturday.
“We need to disentangle masculinity from addressing increased risk from catastrophic bushfires. Modern firefighting is in teams and assisted by equipment and technology. Women should be genuinely and equally accepted as both career and volunteer firefighters, and these male-dominated cultures should be changed for the good of both men and women.”
A greater focus on prevention, regulation of building in high risk areas, holistic care of the environment, and taking the lead from Indigenous experts would be essential steps in better preparing communities for fires and adjusting their expectations, she said.
“Misplaced self belief lay behind many of the decisions to stay and defend properties on Black Saturday and this led to many of the deaths,” she said.
“Even in these 2020 fires, I heard an interview with a couple who sounded really negatively affected when describing how they stayed to fight the fire and barely survived. Yet the interview finished by saying, ‘What an amazing couple’, rather than with something constructive, like follow government directives to ‘leave and live’, or actually pointing out the lifelong impact of almost dying while saving a house.
“Too many Australians are complacent about bushfires’ impact at every level.”
