Firefighters killed in New South Wales identified

They were members of the Horsley Park Brigade

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has identified the two volunteer firefighters that were killed December 19 while working on the Green Wattle Creek Bushfire near Buxton in southwestern Sydney.

Firefighter Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, joined the Service in 2003, and is a member of the Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade.

Andrew O'Dwyer firefighter killed
Andrew O’Dwyer with his daughter Charlotte.

Firefighter Geoffrey Keaton, 32, joined the Service in 2006 and is a Deputy Captain of Horsley Park Rural Fire Brigade, and a former member of Plumpton Brigade.

Geoffrey Keaton firefighter killed
Geoffrey Keaton and his son Harvey.

A spokesperson for the the NSW RFS said, “That tree came down in front of that truck, the truck impacted that tree and then rolled resulting in fatalities to two of our firefighters.”

The incident occurred just before midnight at the end of a long shift. Both of them, members of the Horsley Park Brigade, were in the front seat of the truck and died at the scene. Three other passengers were injured and treated at the scene by paramedics.

RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said, “They work together, socialize together, they’re very interactive together. Their respective partners and wives shared a lot in common with their camaraderie and connection with the brigade,” he said.

“Geoff has a young son Harvey, and Andrew has a young daughter Charlotte, and both of those children were born two days apart back in May so they’re 19 months of age, which is just terrible.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: “I don’t think you can think of a worse set of circumstances to see two young fathers lose their lives in this way.”

On the night of Mr. Keaton’s death, his father John was fighting a a very large fire in Gospers Mountain northwest of Sydney, while his son was at the Green Wattle Creek Fire.

Andrew O'Dwyer fire truck
Andrew O’Dwyer (far left) is seen with colleagues in front of the truck he was riding in at the time of the accident.

The NSW RFS has created a dedicated bank account to collect donations for the families.

Two firefighters in Australia killed when their truck hits tree and rolls

Two New South Wales Rural Fire Service volunteers have died and three other firefighters were injured

NSW RFS engine truck rollover lodd
It is believed the NSW RFS truck (not pictured) hit a tree before rolling off the road. NSW RFS photo.

Authorities said the truck was traveling as part of a convoy when it is believed to have hit a tree on Wilson Drive in Buxton, before rolling off the road about 11:30pm. (map)

The driver and front passenger both died at the scene. Three other passengers were injured and treated at the scene by paramedics.

It happened December 19 near the Green Wattle Creek Fire near Buxton in southwestern Sydney, one of two bushfires still burning at emergency level through Thursday night.

A crime scene has been established, and an investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

(From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Our sincere condolences go out to the firefighters’ friends, family, and coworkers.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom. Typos or errors, report them HERE.

New South Wales posts map showing predicted spread of bushfires

Comparing firefighting in North America and Australia

When a group of firefighters from North America arrived in Australia earlier this year to assist with an exceptionally large number of bushfires, one of them was quoted by a local media outlet as saying, “I understand it’s pretty traumatic for you guys, but it’s something we deal with – it’s our comfort zone”. It was not clear to whom the firefighter was speaking, civilians or in-country firefighters, but it struck me as a little odd and could be interpreted as patronizing from someone who had been in the country for less than a day.

Make no mistake, Australians have been dealing with vegetation fires as long as the North Americans have, and their blazes can be just as calamitous as those on the other side of the equator. Firefighters on both continents can learn from each other. From my limited vantage point 8,000 miles away it is clear that Aussies do a lot of things very well, especially designing their fire engines and keeping the public informed about  the status of active fires.

In the United States if a citizen needs current information about a wildfire how do they get it? The local sheriff, local fire department, or a state agency? It makes a difference about where to look if the fire is on federal land, state protected land, city, county, national or state park. If they try social media, what account? InciWeb sometimes has information about wildfires managed by federal agencies, but not all. Information about individual fires may not have been updated for 12 to 18 hours, however some incident management teams are better than others.NSW RFS Twitter And evacuations are managed by local law enforcement. When someone is threatened by a rapidly spreading wildfire they don’t have time to randomly check an alphabet soup of acronyms on dozens of web sites or social media accounts, even if they know the names, handles, or web addresses.

The map below is an example of something done very well in Australia. In New South Wales the Rural Fire Service distributes a great deal of current information to the public through Twitter, Facebook, and their web site.

NSW RFS fire spread projection map
From the NSW RFS:
Advice – Green Wattle Creek (Wollondilly LGA)
Extreme Fire Danger is forecast for this fireground on Thursday 19th December 2019. Conditions will be dangerous due to high temperatures, strong and gusty winds and low humidity. This potential fire spread prediction map shows the communities that may come under threat from embers or fire fronts. Conditions are then forecast to worsen again on Saturday.

It would be very unusual for a firefighting agency in the U.S. to distribute to the public a map, like the one above, that showed projections of fire spread of two major fires over the next 24 hours. Most agencies in the U.S. are hesitant to even publicly predict the general direction a fire will spread, let alone a map showing the location and extent of where the fire is expected to be in a matter of hours.

The technology to produce maps like this exists, but depending on the accuracy needed, it can require a supercomputer to crunch the numbers. In September the Orange County Fire Authority in California began a 150-day pilot program to use and evaluate the Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System (FIRIS). It utilizes a supercomputer at the University of California San Diego running WIFIRE spread projections based on fire perimeter data collected by an aircraft. The output estimates where the fire will be in the next six hours. It has been run on real fires a few times, with the latest being the Cave Fire at Santa Barbara, California.

Another area where the NSW RFS excels is posting aerial videos of active fires. The agency frequently puts them on Twitter and Facebook, giving the public a general idea of how actively the fire is burning. Many of them show air tankers and helicopters dropping water on the fires, showing taxpayers how their money is being spent.

“It smells like it’s time to go to work”

Said one of the American firefighters as they landed in smoky Sydney, Australia

Firefighting personnel from U.S. arrive in Australia
Firefighting personnel from the U.S. arrive in Australia, December 7, 2019. NSW RFS photo.

The 42 firefighting personnel from Canada and the United States have arrived in Australia. Each country sent 21 fire supervision and aviation specialists who will assist with suppressing the fires that have been burning in nearly unprecedented numbers over the last several weeks. There is no long term relief in sight since the Australian summer is just starting.

The Sydney Morning Herald has an interesting article about the Americans being incorporated into the New South Wales fire culture. Check out their very interesting article and the photos. Here is an excerpt:

As the first ever deployment of American firefighters made the descent into Sydney from the United States on Saturday morning, the bushfire smoke cloaking the city for the past week filled the aircraft cabin. For firefighting aviation specialist Michelle Moore, from Idaho, the smell wasn’t alarming.

“I understand it’s pretty traumatic for you guys, but it’s something we deal with – it’s our comfort zone,” she said. “It smells like it’s time to go to work.”

The group is spending Sunday in briefings before heading out on Monday to locations including the “mega fire” around Gospers Mountain that stretches from the Hawkesbury into the Hunter and Central Coast regions, and the Currowan fire north of Batemans Bay on the South Coast.

Inside the briefing notes on Sunday was the important lesson of getting familiar with Australia’s spiders and snakes. Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Paul Baxter said the Australian accent will probably also take some getting used to.

Firefighters from Canada arrive Australia
Firefighters from Canada arrive in Australia. Photo by NSW RFS December 5, 2019.

U.S. and Canada send firefighters to Australia

A total of 42 firefighters from North America will be assisting with the suppression of bushfires

Canadian fire management personnel Australia
21 Canadian fire management personnel received a warm welcome at the Sydney airport December 5  from @NSWRFS, @AFACnews, and @canadadownunder. These personnel from Parks, ON, MB, SK, AB & BC, are expected to return to Canada in early January. CIFFC photo.

Australia has just moved into their summer, but firefighters in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria have been dealing with exceptionally large numbers of massive bushfires for weeks.

Canada and the United States are each sending 21 firefighters down under to assist their Australian brothers and sisters.

The U.S. personnel will  be representing the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service. The employees are coming from Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Virginia.

The U.S. firefighters departed from the San Francisco International
Airport on Thursday, December 5. The Canadians arrived in Sydney December 5.

This is the first time Canadian firefighters have been deployed to Australia under the Exchange of Wildland Fire Management Resources Agreement.

The last fire assistance between the U.S and Australia was in August of 2018 when 138 Australian and New Zealand wildfire management personnel worked in the U.S. for almost 30 days to assist with wildfire suppression efforts in Northern California and the Northwest. The personnel from the Southern Hemisphere filled critical needs during the peak of the western fire season for mid-level fireline management, helicopter operations, and structure protection.

The last time the U.S sent firefighters to Australia was in 2010.

Massive bushfires in Australia have made the koala “functionally extinct”

Over 1,000 koalas have been killed and 80 percent of their habitat has burned

The recent large bushfires in New South Wales have killed more than 1,000 koalas and burned 80 percent of their habitat, according to Deborah Tabart, chair of the Australian Koala Foundation.

From Forbes.com:

Recent bushfires, along with prolonged drought and deforestation has led to koalas becoming “functionally extinct” according to experts.

Functional extinction is when a population becomes so limited that they no longer play a significant role in their ecosystem and the population becomes no longer viable. While some individuals could produce, the limited number of koalas makes the long-term viability of the species unlikely and highly susceptible to disease.

Deforestation and bushfires destroy the main nutrient source of koalas, the eucalyptus tree. An adult koala will eat up to 2 pounds of eucalyptus leaves per day as it’s main staple of nutrients. While eucalyptus plants will grow back after a fire, it will take months, leaving no suitable food source for koalas and starvation a likely scenario for many.

There is a movement in Australia for the government to pass a bill that was introduced in 2016 but never passed. The Koala Protection Act would protect habitats and reduce or prevent hunting of the animals.

The screenshot at the top of this article is from a video showing a woman rescuing the badly injured koala. Click here to see it, but some may find it disturbing.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service stated on November 19 that the perimeter of the fires in their state so far this fire season was over 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles). Six people have died, 600 homes have been destroyed, 1.65 million hectares (4.1 million acres) have burned, and the season is not even halfway over. The acres burned to date in 2019 is the third highest annual total since 1970.

acres burned NSW 1970-2019
Guardian
map fires new south wales
Map showing recent bushfires in New South Wales, November 19, 2019.