People I love almost died in these fires - escaped with 3 minutes to spare. People I knew DID die in these fires. I went to their funerals.
The Premier and the Police Chief and the Police Minister should have been there, and together, in consultation, should have declared a State of Emergency by lunchtime that day. and brought in the Army, and the Metropolitan Fire Brigades.
Many of the people you speak of were grossly incompetent, or entirely not up to the job, not realizing the huge scope of this monster they were facing, or it's speed; in chaos and panic, and stubbornly doing their own thing, non cohesive and worst of all passing over as inconsequential critically vital pre-warning predictive maps which were not seen relevant enough to pass through the system fast, all combined to contribute to the death toll that day.
What was needed that day was NOT politics, but a concerted top leadership which thumped the tables and yelled for absolute obedience and immediate and effective action from those who supposedly had the skills to implement required actions. The top leadership, Premier, Police Chief, Chief Minister, were NOT present until after the events! Others were just not up to the job as others had assumed they were.
Residents were warned days ahead about high temperatures and fire danger in days to come. But CFA HQ forgot to heed the warnings themselves!
