East Gippsland fire mass evacuations

Originally posted by acorn: ↑

Seriously logco, those tracks would be useless today in fire condition like this.

I've ridden and looked for plenty of the old logging access tracks in Gippsland. While they might be physically blocked to 4wds, it takes a fair bit more to stop keen dirt bike riders. We've investigated plenty of them.

Yes, many were closed and allowed to grow over. A lot of those old tracks were poorly positioned. Ridiculously steep or dead ends. Some of those have been replaced by better tracks that have been refurbished since Black Saturday. They are now better and wider than they've ever been.

Those old tracks that you refer to were not much more than a truck width and no good for fire access. Particularly as many of them were steep. Suitable for dozers only. They would be useless trying to fight fires today. Trying to fight that far in would be risking crews for no good reason.

A lot of them are ridgeline tracks. That is the worst place to be in an approaching unstable fire. They are good for access in blacking out once a fire has passed. That's about it.

To reinstate those tracks and make them suitable as fire breaks in these conditions they would have to be a kilometer wide. That is simply not practical.

The most sensible thing is to stay out and let it burn.

We recently rode around the back of Tom Groggin ( another fire there now apparently ) and up along the Mt Margaret track toward Licola. That had the sheet burnt out of it earlier in the year. The tracks have been dozed since but there is no way you could get any decent fire fighting equipment in there. Slipons maybe but it would be totally pointless.

If you get a chance you should go up there and have a look after summer. Standing there and looking around gives you real perspective.

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The reason these tracks need to open is for access so fire fighter can take on lightning strikes first the fire bombers attack then ground crews are needed if they can't be repelled yes most of the tracks are on ridge tops where we once did FRBs in Autumn ,I was fire fighting for 40 years and we knew the tracks suitable for 4WD tankers and what was just S/ON access.
The main thing FRB do is to reduce the intensity of fire if you this it will stop the fires crowning and killing the eucs if it is just let fire burn the composition of the forest will completely change.
I have not been up to Tom or Jill for a while mainly further east recently this time much more private land has been involved in the fires but we are in a record drought. I just hope the lessons will not be forgotten as soon as we have a few normal season usually governments commit to spending on fire prevention but the funding after a few years is pulled or diverted.
Many of the fire management hierarchy today are administrators placed in the job and they are risk averse and if they don't make a decision then they don't make a mistake,there is little aggressive fire fighting today as people have left because the government and department is more concerned about diversity and equity than getting the job done,getting FRBs approved is an endurance test decided in Melbourne rather than in the regions where it should be decided,being an Ops officer on site asking to back burn is just as frustrating and usually fruitless, the answer is usually we don't want any more fire in the landscape I have been given permission hours after I asked often this is after the horse has bolted.