Community, experts reflect on lessons from Black Saturday fires 17 years on

Ange Gordon had no idea a bushfire was approaching her home on Black Saturday until she spotted the smoke cloud in the distance.

On February 7, 2009, Ms Gordon was returning to her home in Traralgon South from the nearby town of Morwell, east of Melbourne.

"I got to the Loy Yang traffic lights and [was] ready to turn right towards Traralgon South and there was a mushroom plume of smoke," Ms Gordon said.

"It was the visual of seeing the smoke. That's how I knew."

Across Victoria, 173 people died and more than 1,800 homes were destroyed. 

Gippsland communities, including Traralgon South and Callignee, were hit by a bushfire started by an arsonist just outside the nearby town of Churchill.

The Churchill fire caused 11 deaths and 35 casualties and destroyed 145 homes.

Ms Gordon would spend the next seven years operating Traralgon South's community recovery centre.

She said on the day of the fires, many in the community were alerted by neighbours going door to door, warning them to escape.

A teacher learnt about the fire while relaxing in her pool. 

Royal commission

After Black Saturday, the Victorian government held a royal commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

Over 155 days of public hearings, it heard from more than 400 witnesses and made 67 recommendations in its final report.

It recommended quadrupling the amount of planned burns, upgrading electricity infrastructure to reduce the risk of fires and the creation of designated bushfire refuges in fire-prone communities.

It also called for changes to evacuation advice, from a policy of recommending people leave early or stay and defend, to emphasising early evacuation.  

On warnings, the royal commission found that while some heeded advice to leave early, others made decisions based on police door knocks, community meetings and the weather on the day.

It also found that warnings were too narrow and directed people towards activating their fire plans, rather than giving specific directions and advice. 

Its final report recommended enhancing the role of warnings, and including information about the movement of fires and actions to be taken by those who might be in its path.

Premier John Brumby accepted all of the royal commission's recommendations, bar one, rejecting a proposal for a voluntary property buy-back scheme for residents in high-fire-risk areas.

Lessons learnt

Ewan Waller was the chief fire officer on Black Saturday at what was then the Department of Sustainability and Environment. 

He spent his final three years in the role helping to implement the royal commission's recommendations.

"After Black Saturday, we particularly worked on getting the powerlines [improved], which were a real problem because most of the major fires were a result of powerlines coming down," Mr Waller said, identifying it as an area of improvement.

"We've had terrible weather across Victoria with strong winds and squally conditions, and yet I haven't heard of any fires being started by powerlines coming down." 

Another change implemented by authorities in the wake of the royal commission was warning people in at-risk areas to leave early on high-risk fire days.

In addition to the change in messaging, Mr Waller said there was greater community awareness of fire after Black Saturday and a greater willingness to evacuate.

"You hear quite often now, 'I can rebuild a home, but we’ve only got one life,'" he said. 

"Where I grew up in a fire-prone area, protecting the house was just paramount."

Changing communications

The release of the Vic Emergency app in 2017 heralded a major shift in the way Victorians receive emergency information.

The app allows users to set watch areas for particular parts of the state and receive instant alerts for fires and other emergencies in the area where they live or are holidaying.

The app has been downloaded to more than 5 million devices since its release.

Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said the app played a crucial role in alerting communities during bushfires that hit central and north-eastern parts of the state on January 9.

"On that Friday, we saw 1.65 million sessions on the app and we also sent more than 10 million push notifications for warnings through the emergency app on that day," Mr Wiebusch said.

He said he didn't believe that the shift towards urging early evacuation had led to higher rates of property loss.

A community changed

In the 17 years since Black Saturday, many Traralgon South and district community members who lived through the fire have moved on.

Ms Gordon said many left as they got older, but for others, it was a result of the fire.

"It was just too terrifying for them to continue to live out here, so they've packed up and permanently moved," Ms Gordon said.

For those who remain, their experiences on that day continue to shape their approach to summer.

Ms Gordon said residents had a greater awareness of what to do on days of extreme fire risk and where to access information, and had the VicEmergency app downloaded.  

"They do pack up and they are prepared and they have proper plans in place for where they want to go," she said.

"It's not like it's all summer long. It's just those certain few days that are really bad days.

"That's where you think, 'Yeah, this is a day where I'm just gonna not be around' or be absolutely ready to go and know where you're going to go."