Local Emergency Management Committee Minutes 26 February 2020 - Council Chambers, 6177 Great Northern Highway, Bindoon
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Local Emergency Management Committee Minutes 26 February 2020 Council Chambers, 6177 Great Northern Highway, Bindoon Commencement: 10:01am Closure: 10:44am
MEMBERSHIP Membership Membership of the LEMC is representative of agencies, community groups, non-government organisations and expertise relevant to the identified community hazards and risks and emergency management arrangements. Chair SoC President Deputy Chair SoC Deputy President Other Members Community Emergency Services Manager / Chief Bush Fire Control Officer SoC Executive Manager Development Services SoC Executive Manager Corporate Services SoC Executive Manager Technical Services SoC Principal Environmental Health Officer SoC Building Surveyor St Johns Ambulance Gingin/Chittering representative WA Police – Gingin representative Department of Communities representative DFES District Officer (North East Metropolitan) DFES District Emergency Management Advisor Department of Defence (RAAF) representative Western Australian Meat Industry Authority representative Bindoon Primary School representative Edmund Rice College representative Immaculate Heart College representative Other Deputies SoC Deputy Chief Bush Fire Control Officers Tenure of Membership Shall be in accordance with the Emergency Management Act 2005, Section 38(4). VISION Our vision is for the Shire of Chittering to have an efficient and responsive emergency management OBJECTIVES (a) To plan, administer and test the Local Emergency Management Arrangements. (b) To keep up to date the Contact details in the Local Emergency Management Arrangements. (c) Meet and produce post-incident reports. (d) Meet and produce post-exercise reports. (e) Produce an Annual report. (f) Produce and approve an Annual Business Plan. The Committee will advise the local government all matters relating to Emergency Management. Shall be in accordance with the Emergency Management Act 2005, Section 39. The functions of a local emergency management committee are, in relation to its district or the area for which it is established — (a) to advise and assist the local government in ensuring that local emergency management arrangements are established for its district; (b) to liaise with public authorities and other persons in the development, review and testing of local emergency management arrangements; and (c) to carry out other emergency management activities as directed by the OEM or prescribed by the regulations. SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. DECLARATION OF OPENING OF MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS OF VISITORS ........................................... 1 2. RECORD OF ATTENDANCE / APOLOGIES / APPROVED LEAVE OF ABSENCE .............................................. 2 2.1 Attendance ........................................................................................................................................ 2 2.2 Apologies ........................................................................................................................................... 2 2.3 Approved leave of absence ............................................................................................................... 3 3. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST ......................................................................................................................... 3 4. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES .................................................................................................. 3 4.1 Local Emergency Management Committee meeting: 27 November 2019 ...................................... 3 5. REPORTS .................................................................................................................................................... 3 5.1 Western Australia Police Force (Gingin) ............................................................................................ 3 5.2 Department of Fire and Emergency Services – District Officer (North East Metropolitan) .............. 3 5.3 Department of Fire and Emergency Services – District Emergency Management Advisor .............. 4 5.4 Department of Communities ........................................................................................................... 12 5.5 Australian Defence Force ................................................................................................................ 12 5.6 St John Ambulance (Chittering & Gingin) ........................................................................................ 12 5.7 Shire of Chittering............................................................................................................................ 13 5.8 Chief Bushfire Control Officer ......................................................................................................... 13 5.9 Swan SES .......................................................................................................................................... 17 5.10 Bindoon Primary School .................................................................................................................. 18 5.11 Edmund Rice College ....................................................................................................................... 18 5.12 Immaculate Heart College ............................................................................................................... 18 6. GENERAL BUSINESS ................................................................................................................................. 18 7. NEXT MEETING ........................................................................................................................................ 18 8. CLOSURE .................................................................................................................................................. 18 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 1. DECLARATION OF OPENING OF MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS OF VISITORS Cr John Davis held the office of Chairperson in Cr Don Gibson’s absence. The Chairperson declared the meeting open at 10:01AM Good morning ladies and gentlemen, we wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the Yued people. We would like to pay respect to the Elders of the Nyoongar nation, past and present, who have walked and cared for the land, we acknowledge and respect their continuing culture, and the contributions made to this region. 2. RECORD OF ATTENDANCE / APOLOGIES / APPROVED LEAVE OF ABSENCE 2.1 Attendance The following members have confirmed their attendance (Quorum – 9 Members): Members: Cr John Davis Deputy President (Chairperson) Matthew Gilfellon Chief Executive Officer David Carroll Chief Bushfire Control Officer Melinda Prinsloo Executive Manager Corporate Services Jim Garrett Executive Manager Technical Services Peter Stuart Executive Manager Development Services Nathan Gough Principal Building Surveyor Yvette Grigg Department of Fire and Emergency Services Brad Slater Department of Fire and Emergency Services Donna Watts Department of Defence Richard Heith RAAF/Department of Defence Ryan Hamblion Department of Communities Marie Barton Edmund Rice College Iain Lind Western Australia Police Force (Gingin) Rick Choules St John Ambulance Maxi McDonald St John Ambulance Daryl Coleman Swan SES Ben Banyai WAMIA Andrew Schmidt Bindoon Primary School Observers: Jodie Connell Development Services Support Officer (Minute Secretary) 2.2 Apologies David Wilson Deputy Chief Bush Fire Control Officer – South Dennis Badcock Tronox Glenn Sargeson Principal Environmental Health Officer 2 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 2.3 Approved leave of absence Cr Don Gibson Council has previously approved leave of absence for Cr Don Gibson for the period of Friday 21 February 2020 until Monday 16 March 2020 inclusive (Resolution 020220) 3. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST Nil 4. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES 4.1 Local Emergency Management Committee meeting: 27 November 2019 6.1 OFFICER RECOMMENDATION Moved Dave Carroll / Seconded Jim Garrett That the minutes of the Local Emergency Management Committee meeting held on Wednesday, 27 November 2019 be confirmed as a true and accurate record of proceedings. CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 5. REPORTS 5.1 Western Australia Police Force (Gingin) Nil 5.2 Department of Fire and Emergency Services – District Officer (North East Metropolitan) Brad Slater spoke to the following: • Relatively busy fire season, more so in eastern states than in Western Australia. Many DFES volunteers have been deployed across to the eastern states . High Threat Period - Current Status: • The summer period has seen a number of significant incidents across the landscape of WA, in particular the Norseman / Balladonia Bushfire which shut down the Eyre Highway for an extended period, the Yanchep Bushfire and the Katanning Bushfire which threatened the communities and had community impacts, and Tropical Cyclone Damien which had flooding and storm damage to areas across the Pilbara. • The communities of NSW and to a lesser extent of Victoria and South Australia have suffered significantly from the threat of bushfires, and the FES Commissioner wishes to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of all emergency services personnel across WA who have tirelessly assisted in supporting these communities. Projects involving LG/LEMC: • RAAF Base Pearce – the recent bushfire incident on RAAF Base Pearce has highlighted the need to review and formalise emergency arrangements between DFES and Defence; the emergency 3 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 response went to plan but continual improvement protocols have identified potential improvements in mobilisation and response capability; DFES will be working with Defence to develop additional plans over the upcoming period, and will include familiarisation visits for relevant personnel, including CESM David Carroll. Priorities for next quarter: • Business as usual activities. 5.3 Department of Fire and Emergency Services – District Emergency Management Advisor Yvette Grigg spoke to the following: • The season isn’t over yet, fires as well as storms are eminent • Dates to be confirmed for one – Gingin, Dandaragan, Swan, Wanneroo, Moora, hold a session on Recovery for Dates to be chosen, non fire season month, August, September, October are marked as suitable months, the rest of the LEMC agencies – Matthew put it to the rest of the agencies – late Sep to early October Nationally Catastrophic Fire Season LEMC members will have been watching the devastating fires across the Nation in the last few months. WA has not been exempt, though direct impacts on communities have been less, local governments and communities have still been affected by several large fires, with closures of key east west transport routes having widespread economic impacts at the state and local level and causing serious complications to travellers and communities along the highway. The fire season appears to be lasting longer each year, so it may be timely to ensure you are well prepared as there is a significant period of warm weather still ahead. Simple things that the Local Government and LEMC members can do; • Ensure all staff within the Local Government or your agencies know who will play key roles in the response and recovery effort. • Make sure you have considered staff leave and have contingencies in place. • Consider staff fatigue should you have a major incident, and ensure you have rosters in place early. • Remember in our small Wheatbelt communities, it is likely that some of your staff will also have been impacted. You may need to enact some MOUs, or informal agreements to share resources from your neighbours or others. • Use your LEMC meetings to ensure you “know” the agencies around the table, their capabilities and limitations. • Dust off your LEMA and recovery plans. Know who is responsible for what. • Building relationships with DFES operational staff in your region prior to an emergency will be very valuable. • Your District EM Advisor can guide you through your responsibilities before, during and after an emergency Joint EM Training and recovery days A series of days will be held across the Wheatbelt called “ A review of our Emergency Management Arrangements and Activities – A refresh of the old and update on the new”. 4 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 The first day is being held in Dowerin on March 10th. Commencing at approximately 10am it will include a refresher training on requirements of EM for LEMCs and Local Governments, followed by a recovery session, on recent learnings etc. and will conclude with a recovery exercise. Approx. 12 neighbouring LGs have been invited to this session. Dates for other areas across the district will be scheduled for the year and advised soon. Emergency Management Health Check Sometimes it is hard to know what to include on a LEMC agenda. I have attached a document called the “Community Emergency Management Health Check” which is a simple way of highlighting any gaps that may exist, that you may wish to address at your LEMC meetings. Assessing any gaps in your general capability is also very useful to direct your efforts. Information that can help includes; • Your risk register • The preparedness survey you prepare each year • Local issues raised at your LEMC, DEMC or any near misses. • Lessons identified from exercises From this you may wish to list some priorities, or even develop a LEMC business plan. Emergency Management takes some time to implement, so it is recommended that the LEMC business plans span at least 3 years. LEMC Exercising The State Exercise Coordination Team has begun implementing a new exercise process which is capability based rather than hazard based. This aligns very well with the work as described above. It is still in implementation phase and I will advise formally once it has progressed further. Suffice to say that LEMCs are still required to exercise annually. Please find attached a brief document I have developed to assist in the designing of LEMC exercises which I hope you will find useful. 5 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 ATTACHMENTS TO REPORT– DISTRICT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADVISOR 6 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 7 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 8 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 9 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 10 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 11 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 5.4 Department of Communities Ryan Hamblion spoke to the following: • 17 activations, including Cyclones in northern parts of Western Australia • The last Emergency Welfare Centre Training session was held on 11 December 2019. Jodie and Annie from the Shire of Chittering attended this session. • The latest Local Emergency Welfare plan was recently sent through to all key stakeholders 10:15am Melinda Prinsloo entered the meeting 5.5 Australian Defence Force Richard Heith spoke to the following: • RAAF is currently hosting jets from the east coast in the training area in Muchea. • A Large Aerial Tanker was stationed at the base in December. • Two fires have recently encroached on the base, thanks to the local emergency services who responded to these incidents. • RAAF Pearce is operating with business as usual. • RAAF continues to support the water bombers as required. Brad Slater from DFES stated that he had been working Donna from Defence regarding the interagency capability between DFES and RAAF, including looking at what plans are currently in place. Donna offered that if other agencies were interested, they are welcome to contact her to discuss further. 5.6 St John Ambulance (Chittering & Gingin) Rick Choules spoke to the following: • An application for planning for the new sub centre is currently being considered by the Shire. The sub centre is to be constructed in Bindoon. Once the application for planning has been determined, St John’s will be tendering for a building company. Construction of the building is projected to be in 2021. Positioning of the building is ideal, it will be easily seen from the main street and will hopefully encourage new volunteers. • Training has begun for the year with some volunteers moving to level two. • Rick introduced Maxi McDonald, the Community Paramedic for the area. Maxi McDonald spoke to the following: • Introduced himself as the Community Paramedic with coverage as far north as Wubin and as far east as Wyalkatchem • Most recent large scale incidents attended have been the fires in Yanchep and the Cyclone in northern parts of Western Australia. • St John Ambulance currently has about nine or ten active volunteers who are able to attend call outs. However with three or four call outs per day, this creates a fair bit of activity which can be difficult with so few volunteers. St John Ambulance is always looking for new volunteers. • Training has begun again for 2020. There has been a bit more focus on Gingin given state of current subcentre in Bindoon. 12 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 5.7 Shire of Chittering Matthew Gilfellon spoke to the following: • More of a focus on response. Since the last meeting, it has been fortunate as there has not been any large fires in the area. Resources and support have been given more to other areas. • The Community Welfare team have been establishing resources for each of the marked evacuation centres. This includes the installation of cupboards with resources and equipment in each of the centres. • The next step is testing current processes and procedures and making sure what’s in place is effective and fit for purpose. • The Recovery Plan is currently being worked on. Jodie Connell is booked in for Manage Recovery Activities for Local Government training at WALGA on 6 March. • A desktop exercise would be beneficial at the next LEMC if the Committee had any ideas. Yvette Grigg gave a brief example and if at the next meeting she is available, she can run a desktop exercise. Rick Choules gave information to the Committee about the security arrangements the Shire has in place and their effectiveness to date. 5.8 Chief Bushfire Control Officer David Carroll spoke to the following: 1. Shire of Chittering Many LGs in recovery mode this morning after yesterdays thunderstorm which produced 126km hr winds, there were 600 triple 0 calls, 150 calls to SES across Perth Metro, 8000 homes without power, water being trucked from Bindoon to Calingiri and Moora due to the outage. We are currently in the High Threat Period and prohibited burning time, restricted burning commences midnight 31/03. Permits may be issued for stubble burning if conditions are favourable. We’re moving toward the storm season with dangerous storms being the most common natural hazard in Australia. Swan SES and Daryl are our go to people for storm issues if a storm has badly damaged your home and you can't safely fix it yourself, SES volunteers are there to help. If you need assistance call 132 500. For more advice about what to do before, during and after a storm download a copy of the Preparing for Storms Guide below. https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/safetyinformation/storm/Pages/default.aspx 2. Shire of Chittering Autumn Weather Outlook: The likelihood of a wetter or drier than average autumn (March to May) is roughly equal (45– 55% chance) for much of Australia. However, parts of southwest Australia have a slightly increased chance of being wetter (60–70% chance). Both days and nights are likely to be warmer than average across most of the country for autumn, although days have roughly equal chances of being above or below average in the south. Major climate drivers, including the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) are currently neutral and are forecast to remain neutral through autumn. When these major climate drivers are neutral, widespread above or below average seasonal rainfall is less likely. 13 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 3. Since October 2019 Shire of Chittering volunteers have been on ongoing deployments to Local, NSW, Qld and Goldfields fires, with volunteers learning from and enjoying their deployment experience. Monitoring the Eastern states fires for lessons learnt and anything we can apply 4. Volunteers numbers are currently at 239 across the six brigades, actual regular turnout numbers are lower than this. 5. Awareness: HMA Dept of Health. Corona Virus, COVID-19, CO stands for corona, VI stands for virus, D for disease. Symptoms: fever, a cough, sore throat, tiredness or shortness of breath Treatment: to reduce fever is aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol, currently no vaccine. Australian Government Department of Health 06:30hrs 25/02/20: Australia has 22 confirmed cases of Corona Virus: 8 in Queensland, 4 in New South Wales, 6 in Victoria, 3 in South Australia, 1 in Western Australia, 15 of these cases are reported to have recovered. The remaining cases are in a stable condition. Across the world, there have been approximately 79,573 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 2,626 reported deaths. Of confirmed cases reported globally, the case fatality rate is approximately 3.4% The case fatality rate in countries and regions outside mainland China is 1.4% For comparison the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic fatality rate was 2-3% The majority of COVID-19 infections have been reported from mainland China. 2,423 cases have been reported from 37 countries and regions outside mainland China. Since 24 February there have been 225 new cases reported outside of mainland China. The majority of these cases are from Italy, South Korea and Iran. Further Information: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert Shire of Chittering Assistance / Resources Provided Inter & Intra State 1. 29/09/19 Muchea, 78.4ha 2. Dec 2019 Yanchep 12,060ha, 1 refuelling station lost 3. 15/12/19 Mogumber, 6613ha 4. 09/01/20 Karnup, 1322ha 5. 28/01/20 Hopelands, 91ha 6. 30/01/20 Bullsbrook, including the RAAF land 92ha 7. Nov/Dec/Jan 19/20 New South Wales 8. Nov/Dec/Jan 19/20 Queensland 9. Dec/Jan 19/20 Norseman 188,374ha 10. Dec/Jan 19/20 Balladonia, 158,000ha, Eyre Highway closed for 12 days 11. 25/01/20 Yarawindah, 45.6ha - Seven Mile Well, east of Mogumber 12. 09/02/20 Katanning, 4644.6ha, 1 home and 1 grader lost, involvement in concurrent response and recovery activities to reduce impact and assist farmers, use of response machinery for fencing site works and preparation, return paddocks to pre fire condition by levelling multiple firebreak windrows using FEL/s and grader provided by Broomehill- Tambellup. Total Incidents Personnel Brigade 2018 2019 19/20 018 019 020 Muchea VBFB 17 36 34 4 5 6 14 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 Lower Chittering VBFB 22 40 36 5 5 1 Upper Chittering VBFB 22 40 28 3 6 4 Bindoon VBFB 20 45 30 7 8 4 Wannamal VBFB 10 12 8 7 8 4 Incident Support Brigade 1 5 3 4 3 0 10 15 39 Heavy Tankers Light Tankers Appliances 8 7 Muchea 2 – 2.4R, 1 Lower Chittering 1.4R 2 Upper Chittering 1 – 3.4U 2 Bindoon 1 – 2.4R 1 Wannamal 2 – 2.4R, 1 3.4U 1 – 2.4B Incident Control Vehicle 1 Total: 19 Fire Support Vehicle 2 Incident Support Trailer, collar tank 1 Australian Fire Season 2019 / 2020 at a glance (Feb 26 2020) Black Summer, Australian Fire Season 2019/20 Large uncontrolled fires started in the Eastern States during June 2019 As of January 2020 • Thirty four lives lost, including 8 volunteer firefighters • Number of towns affected 55 • Estimated 18.6 million hectares (46 million acres), 186,000 square kilometres burnt • More than 5,900 buildings destroyed including 3,500 homes • Estimated one billion animals killed, some endangered species of animals and plants may now be extinct. • Air quality dropped to hazardous levels across the eastern seaboard. • Over 6,500 ADF personnel were deployed in support of state and territory response efforts. • The cost of dealing with the bushfires is approaching $100 billion, $4.4 billion was spent on the 2009 Black Saturday fires. • Tourism sector revenues have fallen more than A$1 billion. • By 7 January 2020, the smoke had moved approximately 11,000km across the South Pacific Ocean to Chile and Argentina. • NASA estimated that 306 million tonnes of CO 2 has been emitted, as of 2nd Jan 2020 (some figures may be estimates). 15 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 Recovery: • Immediate base payment of $1 million to 42 of the most severely bushfire impacted councils in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland to help quickly rebuild vital infrastructure and strengthen community resilience. Currently 40 councils across Australia are in receipt of Category C assistance, including 33 in New South Wales, five in Queensland and two in South Australia • National Bushfire Recovery Agency has been established by the Prime Ministers Department with an initial $2 billion allocated for a national bushfire recovery fund to coordinate a national response to rebuild communities and livelihoods after the devastating fire-front has passed. • An estimated A$500 million has been donated by the public, international organisations, public figures and celebrities for victim relief and wildlife recovery. • Convoys of donated food, clothing and livestock feed have been sent to affected areas. • Clearing of lost house debris to be fast tracked for rebuilding, aiding recovery and mental health of affected communities. • Insurance Council of Australia - 20,000 insurance claims lodged, current estimated value loss of $1.65 billion Causes: Fuel, weather and topography combinations - summertime temperatures, low humidity, high wind speeds, low fuel moisture content, 36 month drought, driest January to August on record, vegetation management 2019 hottest year on record, temperatures 1.52°C above average, December 2019 3.2°C above average also lowest rainfall since records began. Sources of Ignition: The main ignition cause of fires during the 2019/20 fire season was reported to be lightning strikes. Arson has been of little impact with NSW – 1% - 24 individuals charged with arson Vic – 0.3% Qld – 10% - with 114 out of 1068 fires found to have been deliberately lit Australian 2019/2020 Fire Season Statistics (Feb 2020) State/Territory Fatalities Homes lost Hectares Acres New South Wales 25 2,439 5,400,000 13,300,000 Victoria 5 396 1,500,000 3,710,000 South Australia 3 151 490,000 1,210,000 Australian Capital Territory 1 0 56,688 140,080 Western Australia 0 1 2,200,000 5,440,000 Tasmania 0 2 36,000 89,000 Northern Territory 0 5 6,800,000 16,800,000 Queensland 0 48 2,500,000 6,180,000 Total 34 3,042+ 18,736,070 46,300,000 16 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 State and Federal Enquiries: Following the catastrophic fires of the 2019/20 fire season the Prime Minister has established a Royal Commission to investigate National Natural Disaster Arrangements This inquiry has a national focus and will look at three areas: • Improving natural disaster management coordination across all levels of government; • Improving Australia’s preparedness, resilience, and response to natural disasters, across all levels of government; • The legal framework for the Commonwealth’s involvement in responding to national emergencies and how that works with state and territory legal frameworks. • The Royal Commission is not going to duplicate the work of other inquiries. It will work with other inquiries announced by the States and it will also review the work and recommendations of previous inquiries. The 1939 report of the royal commission into the Victorian Black Friday bushfires noted: probably the best means of prevention and protection is that of education, both of adults and children. Yvette Grigg provided further information relating to the Coronavirus. An individual representing Communicable Disease Centre at a recent conference stated that the Coronavirus has a low infectious rate in comparison with normal influenza. Events relating to this virus do need to be watched. A fact sheet can be obtained from the Word Health Organisation. Maxi McDonald added that the vast majority of the patients that have perished have been elderly and already ill. If deemed necessary the World Health Organisation may declare a pandemic. Western Australia has been doing very well with only one case recorded. There is a degree of panic and with people stocking up on required equipment. St John Ambulance is equipped to deal with any suspected cases of the virus. Further discussion was held regarding the economic impact of a pandemic and that the biggest issue is for the virus to enter countries that have poor health systems. Ryan Hamblion offered to send an Agency Advisory for distribution to the Committee. ACTION: Ryan Hamblion to email Jodie Connell with an Agency Advisory (Department of Health) for distribution to the LEMC members. 5.9 Swan SES Daryl Coleman spoke to the following: • Perth metropolitan area was affected heavily overnight having 263 calls. Swan SES had 2 calls. Volunteers assisted Belmont with their call outs overnight with a great turn out last night as well as today. • Fires have been the main focus to date with storm season suddenly eminent with not a lot of time to prepare. This highlights the need for education around storm preparation. • Main reasons for calls overnight were water ingression which is usually due to gutters requiring cleaning. These sorts of calls take volunteers from higher priorities. Swan SES is currently focusing heavily on preparedness. • Training has recommenced with 15 new recruits going through the process. However, there has been a small dip in volunteer numbers. • Generally Swan SES is operating business as usual. 17 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020 • Assisted at the incident at the RAAF Airbase in Bullsbrook with staging and escorting an electrician onto fire ground. Cr John Davis and Rick Choules requested information regarding resourcing and operational procedures. Daryl provided information regarding the resources from DFES and SWORD as well as their procedures and processes followed during their call outs. 5.10 Bindoon Primary School Andrew Schmidt spoke to the following: • Introduced himself as the new Principal and although there was no report to date, Andrew stated if there was any communication to send out to the parents in their community that he was happy to attach such information to school newsletters and post on their website. 5.11 Edmund Rice College Nil 5.12 Immaculate Heart College Nil 6. GENERAL BUSINESS Maxi McDonald spoke to the following: • A general request to those in the community who have elderly neighbours to check on them occasionally. This request is due to some unfortunate circumstances happening in the area recently. Brad Slater spoke to the following: • Requested whether the school representatives present had standalone bush fire plans. School representatives confirmed that they did. Ben Banyai from WAMIA spoke to the following: • Requested a contact person for the possibility of offering WAMIA as a site for hazard reduction burns. David Carroll confirmed that he would speak with Ben after the meeting to discuss. 7. NEXT MEETING That the next meeting of the Local Emergency Management Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, 27 May 2020 commencing at 10.00am. 8. CLOSURE The Chairperson declared the meeting closed at 10:44AM 18 SYNERGY REF: 09/02/4; N202454
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