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Major changes are coming to the way firefighters approach fires following a landmark investigation into the 25 deaths that occurred during Australia’s horrific ‘Black Summer’ bushfires.
Among the recommendations of the coronial inquiry were new rules for the use of firefighting aircraft, better warning systems and a revamp of risk classifications.
The investigation examined 25 deaths in 46 fires in New South Wales.
The 700-page report delivered Wednesday is more than two years in the making and builds on the work of multiple previous investigations.
New South Wales state coroner Teresa O’Sullivan said the 2019-20 bushfire season, which became known as the Black Summer, was undoubtedly one of the most catastrophic on record.
Smoke from a large bushfire is seen outside Nana Glen, near Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, on November 12, 2019.
“It was unprecedented in scale and intensity,” he told Lidcombe Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.
“The enormous scale and ferocity of the fires burning simultaneously meant resources were spread across the state… it is notable that the loss of life was not even greater.”
The 28 recommendations are addressed to the commissioners of the New South Wales rural police and fire service, and the chief executive of state infrastructure company Essential Energy.
Hearings were held throughout New South Wales, including Queanbeyan, Lismore, Armidale, Taree, Cooma and Katoomba.
Ms O’Sullivan reiterated that the purpose of the inquiry was not to assign blame as she presented her findings.
There were a variety of causes for the wildfires, including power lines, lightning, and out-of-control burning.
A fire, which eventually destroyed 10 homes, was started by a laborer who used a welder to fix a metal fence post on a drought-ravaged farm in central western New South Wales, the inquest was told .
That fire lasted 58 days in more than 17,000 hectares.
The Black Summer fires burned more than 5.5 million hectares in New South Wales alone.
The inquiry also heard that only 10 of 130 fire investigators were available at any time during the 2019-20 season.
The coronial inquiry followed separate investigations, including one commissioned by the Berejiklian State Government, which recommended that landowners be forced to carry out more burning to reduce risks to their properties and take an active role in fire preparation. forestry.
Horses are seen in a paddock as the Gospers Mountain fire burns on a property in Bilpin, New South Wales, on December 21, 2019.