Residents in at least one area in Australia that was devastated by the February Black Saturday fires were not allowed to remove hazardous vegetation near their houses, because it was “native”.
An excerpt from The Australian:
Residents in one of the areas devastated on Black Saturday were not allowed to clear highly flammable, noxious tea tree on their land because it was classified as native vegetation by the local council, the royal commission into the bushfire disaster has been told.
Peter Wiltshire, who suffered serious burns and damaged airways trying unsuccessfully to save his home at St Andrews on February 7, said yesterday the tea tree, known as burgan, was “extremely flammable and lets off gases in heat”.
Wildfire from burning burgan on a neighbouring property created enough radiant heat to cause a horsefloat (horse trailer) at one end of his house to instantaneously burst into flame.
But the local Nillumbik Shire Council stopped landowners clearing burgan without applying for permission, Mr Wiltshire said. “They call it native vegetation and we are not allowed to clear it without a permit. It is probably the most noxious and flammable material. It really is a pest and dangerous.”
Mr Wiltshire, who is chairman of the St Andrews Country Fire Authority brigade, said a massive fireball that engulfed his house and caused window glass to melt was fuelled by “black gas” above tree-top level.
He suffered serious burns to his face and both arms, had damaged airways from inhaling heated air and smoke and spent 24 hours in an induced coma in hospital after escaping with his wife and daughter from their blazing home.
Twelve of the 173 people who died on Black Saturday were killed in St Andrews.
Tasmanian Fire Service fire management planning officer Mark Chladil told the hearing that Victoria’s decision to allow people to automatically rebuild on the sites of their former homes using only the new national bushfire building code was “somewhat risky”.
Sites needed to be fully assessed for bushfire threat using the full gamut of planning issues, said Mr Chladil, who is also a member of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council.
“To be blunt, rebuilding at the moment would be somewhat risky in each of these places without considering the range of siting, water supply, access, vegetation management options as well as building options,” hesaid.
“There are going to be sites where it will be seen as foolhardy to have rushed in and rebuilt in the same place without addressing these issues.”
