Inquiry into fire at Wambelong Camp Ground, Warrumbungles National Park, New South Wales January 2013

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Corners Court New South Wales

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

28/09/2015

LITIGATION TYPE

Constitutional and Human Rights / State Accountability

SUBJECT MATTER

Duty of Care

REVIEW TYPE

Merits review

SUMMARY

Catchwords: General fire inquiry – Unprecedented catastrophic wildfire in Warrumbungles National Park – Cause and origin of fire –Whether deliberately lit – Whether hazard reduction plans and operations appropriate – Whether fire appropriately classified at relevant times – Problems with accuracy of fire prediction models – Fire behaviour in extreme conditions – Whether fire management was reasonable in circumstances – Whether back burning operations were appropriate – Whether emergency warnings to local area were timely – Lessons learned

See page 34: Given that the climate change is a reality, and that, as a consequence, extreme heat and drought and other climatic conditions conducive to extreme fire events are likely to develop in Australia more often, the advance of bushfire science, and its application to fire-fighting operations for organisations such as the NPWS and the RFS, is clearly a high priority for regional Australia. 

See page 41: All fires start from small beginnings. We are now entering a period when, due to climate change or other factors, it appears that there will be a continuation of the trend towards increasingly intense fires. It would therefore seem advisable that the NPWS gives close consideration to worstcase scenario planning, not so that it become an emergency service itself but so that it is more closely aligned with the science and policy applications of fire prediction being developed by the RFS, CSIRO and other agencies conducting research and developing fire-fighting policy in respect of major fires.

CASE DOCUMENTS

Inquiry into fire at Wambelong Camp Ground, Warrumbungles National Park, New South Wales January 2013 (2013/00052575) [2015] NSWCorC 68

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