Lee Valley fire: ‘These things can be absolutely devastating’
An aerial view of the fire in the Lee Valley last week. Photo: Supplied/FENZ.
GORDON PREECE AND SARA HOLLYMAN
After five days of hard slog, fire crews walked away from the Lee Valley fire after preventing the next Pigeon Valley disaster.
The blaze, which started on Wednesday, 7 February, five years after the nearby Pigeon Valley Fire, burned across roughly nine hectares of pine forestry. About 11 local homes were evacuated, with none reported to have been damaged in the fire.
“At one point, nine fire crews and seven helicopters were battling the blaze which was on difficult to access, steep terrain.”
“We learnt a lot of lessons from Pigeon Valley and we also learned that you need to get in very quickly and bring in resources quickly, which we did,” says FENZ senior advisor community readiness and recovery Nelson Marlborough, Darren Crawford.
He says the community remembers Pigeon Valley very well.
“Their learning was that these things can be absolutely devastating. These things can be incredibly serious. We do live in a vulnerable area for wildfires.”
He says FENZ made the decision to evacuate 11 properties early-on.
“We just don’t take any chances.”
Darren says the community rallied around FENZ so much so that they had to put out a call for no more baking.
“We were inundated, the community really responded massively in support of FENZ, the baking was a signal from the community that they cared and wanted to support us. The messages of support, it was all really important to the firefighters on the ground, it certainly didn’t go unnoticed.”
He says the Lee Valley community responded well to the evacuations.
“People took it seriously because they’ve been through Pigeon Valley, cooperation was at a higher level.”
FENZ finished at the Lee Valley fire ground on Monday with forest crews continuing to monitor the area.
The investigation into the fire is ongoing, although a suspicious cause has been ruled out.
Darren says the next step is to encourage communities to have an all-encompassing plan in case of emergency.
“Have a plan of how to protect your property and think about pets and livestock in those plans. Consider water supplies, access for fire trucks and a even create a community evacuation plan.”
FENZ are available to assist properties and communities to develop a readiness plan. Email [email protected]