THE devastation of last year’s bushfires has led to positive improvements in the way farmers and CFS volunteers work together.
The event has caused both parties to look at how they interacted and ways to improve their communication.
A fire-ready function was held in Minlaton for farmers and CFS volunteers recently.
Topics covered included CFS updates from last season, communication on the fireground, aircraft behaviour and safety, fire vehicle expectations, personal safety and personal protective equipment.
“That was one step working towards a closer relationship with farmers and there will be quite a way to go over the coming years,” Southern Yorke CFS group officer Gavin Porter said.
“This year we have been trying to have a better line of communication with farmers.
“We want to get dedicated people to be a liaison between the farmer and the CFS.”
Mr Porter said farmers were extremely important as they were often the first people at the scene of fires and had specialised equipment.
“They are more valuable than what people think and, if we can get the farmers to communicate with us, we can have more information about what’s happening before CFS appliances get there,” Mr Porter said.
“If they get the fire out that’s great but, in the event of a bigger fire, we also need to help them with direction, what’s required and safety aspects.
“We also want to have one main UHF channel, channel 9, for fires because around the region people were using many different channels last year.
“Last year we found at Yorke­town that not everyone knew what different UHF channels were being used so we want to try a base single channel across the region.”
Mr Porter said most farming fire-fighting set ups were now quite substantial.
“They can carry thousands of litres of water, they have good pumps and some farmers have bought retired CFS trucks to use on the farm,” Mr Porter said.