After the devastating images of animals impacted by bushfire were shared across the world, fire fighters on Western Australia’s iconic Rottnest Island are taking steps to ensure a similar tragedy doesn’t happen again.
Mr McLaughlin has been the RIA’s full-time, residential fire and emergency services coordinator for the past five years."There is always a risk of bushfire, what we try and do is reduce the likelihood of a bushfire on Rottnest Island. Because we don’t have the same resources available for a bushfire as there are on the mainland."Rottnest Island’s Bushfire Emergency Management plan was reviewed and updated in December last year, as required every five years.
Originally from Sri Lanka, 30-year old chef Wishmalak Perera came to Rottnest Island directly from working in Dubai in April 2018.Rottnest Island has a volunteer fire fighter brigade“I thought ‘why not learn some new skills, help save lives and be good to the community’. That’s what it's all about,” he says.
During the summer bushfire season, any report of a bushfire during daylight hours triggers the deployment by DFES Air Operations Unit.As the RIA’s fire and emergency services coordinator, Mr McLaughlin would be tasked with coordinating that activity. “My priority then is to make sure I’m in communication with the aerial support crews laden with water.”“There’s an MoU with DFES, my crew are going to receive that message and get ready to mobilise in the trucks that you see here.
Being a nocturnal animal, quokkas rely on the shelter provided by fallen trees and branches to manage their sleep patterns and rest during the day. "When I do the reviews of the bushfire emergency management plan and the bushfire risk management plan, I talk with our wildlife services and with our environmental team whose job it is to minor wildlife populations, but are doing the revegetation efforts across the island.
"We do prescribed tree works, contractors come over twice a year and we make sure trees and bushes are pruned back to within one metere of buildings," Mr McLaughlin says. "We constantly monitor key areas to see if trees are verging onto the roads or overhang that could prevent access to fire trucks. We inspect overhead power lines, and if there's the potential for pole top fires, we make sure there's no vegetation nearby.
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