FEELING THE
As bushfires broke out across the state
during the recent heatwave, police
from Mudgee LAC worked in tandem
with rescue personnel to protect the
community of Coonabarabran.
STORY AMANDA BEADMAN
POLICE MONTHLY
O
ver the weekend of January 1920 the small rural community of
Coonabarabran braced for the worst
as a raging bushfire fed by powerful
winds threatened both local lives
and property.
Alongside hundreds of volunteers
and firefighters from across the state,
NSW police were on hand to do all
they could in the face of imminent
danger.
A/Insp Anthony Smith was Duty
Officer at Coonabarabran at the time
and said the experience represented
his first direct involvement with a
bushfire scenario.
“Our job centered on the
coordination of resources and making
sure things happened the way they
needed to for the various
6 PoliceMonthly FEBRUARY 2013
agencies involved,” A/Insp Smith said.
“The main role of police as the
fire threat increased was to facilitate
evacuation of threatened areas and
notify residents of impending danger.
Two of the officers working for me
on the Sunday were involved with
knocking on doors and waking people
up who were directly in the line of the
fire. They got them out and that saved
their lives because many of those
homes were burned to the ground.”
A/Insp Smith said the town avoided
a much larger disaster thanks to a
favourable change in wind conditions
as the fire, with a front spanning more
than 250 kilometres, edged closer to
the main Coonabarabran population.
“If we didn’t get the wind change
we did it would have hit town very
hard – the change pushed the
fire to the north,” he said, adding
that the altered wind direction
wasn’t the only stroke of luck
HEAT
reflected upon in the fire’s wake.
“One of our detectives almost
lost his home to the fire – but
when the smoke cleared it was still
there. It was one of three houses
in that location and the other
two were completely destroyed.
The fire was very indiscriminate
in terms of what it attacked.”
Typical of country towns, the
Coonabarabran population has
rallied behind those worst affected
by the disaster, and were quick to
offer support to police and other
emergency services personnel.
“The community support has
been unreal,” A/Insp Smith said.
“Volunteers have come in doing
cooking and catering for all the
agencies here and the whole town
has just pitched in to help.”
Supt Martin Fileman, Commander
Mudgee LAC was in charge of the
Emergency Operations Centre in
Coonabarabran, under the guidance
of Assistant Commissioner Geoff
McKechnie who was in charge
of regional operations and
A/Deputy Commissioner Mick
Fuller in the role of SEOCON.
Supt Fileman was on the ground
in Coonabarabran from 12.30am on
the Sunday of the fire, and remained
there until the following Saturday.
He said he continued to receive
feedback from the community
praising the life saving efforts
and professionalism of the
officers under his command.
“There are many, many letters and
emails from people who say they
would not have survived if it wasn’t
for our officers,” Supt Fileman said.
“All of the officers attached to
northern sectors of the Mudgee
Command and to Coonabarabran
were extraordinary under extremely
testing conditions and they worked
extremely well in collaboration
with all of the emergency services
personnel involved.”
Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited
Coonabarabran at the time of the
fire and commended the efforts of
volunteers, police and firefighters.
More than 100 people had to be
evacuated at the height of the fire,
which led to 53 houses being lost.
The area’s Warrumbungle
National Park lost much of its
vegetation, with flames burning
out 42,000 hectares of bushland.
Local farmers were also hit
hard, with 140 primary producer
properties burnt and just over
1000 head of stock lost.
Despite the damage to
property no lives were lost in the
blaze, the cause of which was still
under investigation by the SCC’s
Arson Squad at the time of going
to print.
ON FIRE’S FRONTLINE
TOP The ‘moonscape’ scene after the fire swept through the
area surrounding the observatory. Photo: Courtesy of Polair
2nd ROW LEFT Media frenzy created by Prime Minister
Julia Gillard’s visit to Coonabarabran during the bushfire.
Photo: Courtesy Kaitlyn Estens, Coonabarabran Times
2nd ROW RIGHT Police survey damage to Bob and
Jeanette Fenwick’s residence along Timor Road. Photo:
Courtesy Kaitlyn Estens, Coonabarabran Times
3rd ROW LEFT A burnt building next to the main telescope
at Siding Springs Observatory. Photo: Supt Martin Fileman
3rd ROW RIGHT Smoke at the southern tip of the
Coonabarabran township, as viewed from outside the Emergency
Operations Centre on January 18. Photo: Supt Martin Fileman
4th ROW LEFT Police escorted Prime Minister Gillard
during her tour of the Warrumbungle bushfire disaster.
Photo: Courtesy Kaitlyn Estens, Coonabarabran Times
4th ROW RIGHT The Emergency Operations Centre in
full swing on January 17. Photo: Supt Martin Fileman
OPPOSITE PAGE View from the sky of the
Coonabarabran fires. Photo: Courtesy of Polair
FEBRUARY 2013 PoliceMonthly 7