Australia: "stay and defend" policy on the table in fire inquiry

"Stay and Defend" is a policy that encourages residents to evacuate as early as possible or prepare to defend their homes from advancing wildfires. Australia bush fire escape -Witnesses said the inferno was like a nuclear bomb and have told of trees "exploding" with the intensity of the heat. Some vehicles had crashed into each other as their drivers frantically tried to escape the fire many of those cars lie abandoned and burnt-out after their owners scrambled to reach safety
Photo: Times online - Link

In the wake of a record setting series of fires which continue to burn today, Victorian Premier John Brumby announced a royal commission of inquiry into the still-unfolding wildland fire catastrophe.
Brumby vowed that "everything will be on the table" in the inquiry, including the "stay and defend" policy that encourages residents to evacuate as early as possible or prepare to defend their homes from advancing wildfires.
The death toll continues to rise and the total could reach 300 dead.
Survivors of the infernos have described watching distant orange glows on the skyline suddenly speed toward them as roaring walls of flame that left little or no time to escape.

Cars lay strewn across the Kinglake-Whittlesea Rd.
Picture: Trevor Pinder

The extreme speed of the wildfires proved too much for many of the victims who tried to flee, said Andrew Sullivan, a bush fire specialist at Australia's Commonwealth and Scientific Research Organization.

A motorbike lays on the Heidelberg-Kinglake Rd in the Arthur's Creek/ St Andrews Area. It is believed that the rider of the bike was found deceased near the crash scene.
Picture: Darren Tindale

Sullivan a defender of the "stay and defend" policy stated "The plain fact of the matter is, being in a house is much safer than being in a car, which is much safer than being in the open," Sullivan said.

A collision on Kinglake-Whittlesea Rd. Picture: Trevor Pinder

Many of the victims have been found in the charred wrecks of vehicles consumed by blazes as high as four stories driven by 65 mph winds. Many escapes were thwarted when escapees blinded by smoke were involved auto collisions while attempting to flee.

Victoria's premier defended the policy of permitting homeowners to stay and try to protect their property, often with nothing more than garden hoses against fires so huge that they easily overwhelmed professional firefighters.

Brooke Coleman, 29, said her family followed their prepared fire plan—she left with her 18-month-old daughter and husband Zack stayed to try to protect their house, one of few that survived in Kinglake.

"We wouldn't have a house if my husband hadn't stayed up there," said Coleman, whose husband lived in the town—and with wildfire threats—all his life.

"The "stay and defend" policy "has served the state very well in what I'd call normal conditions," Brumby told Australian television.

Authorities said that many fires are unlikely to be extinguished soon.

"Most of the fires are in inaccessible terrain. They're likely to keep burning for some time," said fire specialist Sullivan. "All it takes [for it to get worse] is another week or so and we come back to the same heat wave conditions.

"What they need is rain," Sullivan said, "and that's not forecast."

Brick and steel construction burns
Credit: Times online - Link

Fire resistive construction destroyed in Bush fires
Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun

More brick and steel construction
Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun

Related story: Detailed account of a families narrow escape during a Stay and Defend situation, this is a must read for all concerned with wildland urban interface evacuation policy: Times Online article - Link

'First you're fighting for your home, then you're fighting for your life'
One journalist from The Australian describes his family's struggle for survival when the firestorm overwhelmed their home

'They call it “ember attack”. Those words don’t do it justice. It is a fiery hailstorm from Hell driving relentlessly at you. The wind and flying embers explore, like claws of a predator, every tiny gap in the house. Embers are blowing through the cracks around the closed doors and windows. '

Whole town declared crime scene: In the town of Marysville, which was almost wiped out over the weekend, rain fell briefly. The town has been declared a crime scene, and police are searching for evidence of arson.
We stop at a police check-point down the hill. They ask us where we’ve come from and what’s happening up the road. I tell them there’s no longer anything up the road.

Australian royal commission of inquiry: Normally headed by judges with broad investigative powers, royal commissions can work for months to provide a detailed analysis of issues and events and recommend policy changes to government.