Victims of wildfires 'given no warning'

OFFICIALS failed to adequately warn people in the path of deadly wildfires that devastated part of Australia last year, according to an inquiry report released yesterday that recommended sweeping changes to safety measures to prevent future disasters.

Hundreds of blazes, whipped into firestorms by powerful winds, tore across south-eastern Australia on 7 February last year, killing 173 people, scorching 1,300 square miles of land and razing 2,000 homes - including entire towns.

Black Saturday, as it became known, was the deadliest wildfire disaster in a country where forest blazes are common every summer and are often killers.

The final report of a more than year-long inquiry into the disaster concluded that while the fires were not preventable, the response by fire, police and emergency services chiefs was lacking.

They "did not demonstrate effective leadership in crucial areas" by ensuring that "prompt and accurate warnings were issued to communities in the path of the fires", inquiry commissioners Bernard Teague, Ron McLeod and Susan Pascoe wrote in their report.

An earlier report of the inquiry found that communications and co-ordination between emergency services officials and firefighters and police on the front lines of the fires were poor and that some communities with fires roaring towards them received little or no warning.

The report made 67 recommendations including changing emergency procedures in fire-prone areas, tightening regulations covering power lines, and reviewing evacuation procedures.