Terry HayesExecutive Manager Fire Planning Systems- CFAChris BlackstockGIS Analyst – Database Administration- CFA

Information Sharing and Collaboration for Emergency Services Forum

May 2011

Objectives for Today

1. Provide insight into CFA’s connection with Community

2. Engage you in a short workshop to share ideas on Community Engagement in:

Planning context Response context

Who are we?

What: CFA is a Community based fire and emergency services organisation.

- 58,000 volunteers, 2,000 employees across Victoria

Mission: To protect lives and property

Vision: Working together with communities to keep Victorians safe from fire and other emergencies

Community Planning Process

COMMUNITY PLANNING PROCESS

Risk Assessment

Vulnerability Assessments

Community Preparedness

Shelter & Relocation Options

Township Protection Plans

Community Information GuidePrevention PlanOperation Plan

Enact Personal Bushfire Plans

Readiness

Simulation

C - Current Initiatives P - Planned Initiatives

Key InitiativesC – NSP /

Key InitiativesC - TPPC - Vegetation ManagementC - Municipal Fire Management PlanP - TPPs aligned with Municipal Fire Management Plan

Key InitiativesP – Exercises, online simulations

Risk ManagementProduct/

Service DesignCapability Development Response Ready

Leave Early Destinations

Key InitiativesC - VFRR C - House Retrofit GuideC -Vegetation GuideC - Wildfire Management Overlay VulnerabilityP - Community Risk AnalysisP - Bushfire Impact Assessment Tool

Individual/Household Planning and Capability Development

Awareness and understanding

Individual / Household Preparedness

Recognition of need to act

Education and community

engagement (planning and preparation)

Personalised bushfire survival

planSimulation Enact personal

plan

Readiness (influencing intention to act)

Risk ManagementProduct/

Service DesignCapability Development Response Ready

INDIVIDUAL / HOUSEHOLD PLANNING PROCESS

C – Current initiatives P – Planned initiatives

C - Media campaignC - Mail outs/publicationsC - Local place based activities C - FireReady VictoriaP - Outbound targeted campaigns to high risk areasP - Locally relevant information programs

C - Fire Ready Victoria MeetingsC - FireReady kitC - Households Bushfire Self Assessment ToolC - Advice to Property OwnersC - Community FireguardC- Programs for Vulnerable CommunitiesP - Increase in online services/products to educate and engageP - Enhanced advice to Property OwnersP - Locally relevant information programsP - Improved measurements and customers trackingP - Competency based education programs

C - Bushfire Planning WorkshopsC - FireReady kitP - Standard “Go-Leave Early Plan”P - Online Planning Workshops

P - Exercise online simulations

• Victorian Fire Risk Register (VFRR)

• One Source One Message (OSOM)

• CRM

• Household Bushfire Self Assessment Tool (HBSAT)

CRMVFRR HBSAT7

Risk MapAsset Reference

Insert Maps

Treatment Reference

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Purpose:

• Develop a Municipal Bushfire Risk Register that identifies assets at risk from bushfire• Assesses the level of risk to assets• Provides a range of treatments to

mitigate the risk

Key points:

• Uses ISO 31000 Risk Management process• Uses a database and ESRI Arc

engine (or maps)• Register is built through

collaboration• It presents risk and treatments

spatially

VFRR Informing Community Risk

“The VFRR has improved inter-agency collaboration.” (John Mealia)

“The advantage of the VFRR is that it layers the responsibilities and identifies the assets and

who is responsible – on one map.” (Kevin Kittle, Municipal Fire Prevention Officer,

Corangamite Shire Council)

“Hopefully we will never engage on our own any more. That it will always be done in a collaborative way.” (Cardinia Shire representative)

A member of the Gembrook community locates her home.

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One Source One Message (OSOM)

Objectives:

• To provide timely, accurate information to communities regarding fire activities and incidents.

• To establish a single ‘behind the scenes’ website for consumption by CFA and Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) websites.

• To produce warnings and alerts in a clear, concise manner with consistent terminology based on the OASIS Common Alerting Protocol (CAP).

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One Source One Message (OSOM)

Objectives:

• To provide Victorian Emergency Services Organisations (ESO’s) and support organisations the technical capability of having a single source of information for emergency warnings and alerts.

• To provide Victorian Emergency Services Organisations (ESO’s) and support organisations a simple, intuitive process for producing and distributing emergency warnings and alerts.

• To distribute alerts and warnings through standards based channels for receipt and consumption by media and inter-governmental agencies.

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OSOM transmissions

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Household Bushfire Self Assessment Tool

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89,000 fans

19.5 million update views Jan 2010 - April 2011

Connecting On-Line

278 videos

1.48 million views

• 2,800 stories since May 2009

• 735,000 visits

• 7,800 forum posts

Township Protection Plans

What are they?

Community based plans Contain bushfire preparedness information Contain actions and advice when confronted with

adverse weather conditions and fire in landscape

Township Protection Plan Objectives

To identify agency and individual actions that are likely to improve the bushfire survival of individuals and assets

To provide clear direction to local residents in the development of their Personal Bushfire Survival Plan

Community Preparedness Guide

IAP2

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Problem:How do we use public / crowd sourced information to aid in decision making during an emergency?

Questions:1. What information does the public have?

2. What communication channels are available?

3. How do we ensure the information is useful?

Social Media as a source of InformationMr. Chris Blackstock- GIS Analyst/Database Administrator

Social Media, Smartphones, Mobile Networks

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Facebook MySpace Twitter

Smart Phones, iPhone Apps, SMS, Phone Calls Web

Photos, Video

Map and Demographics

Chum Creek Topography

Chum Creek is situated approximately 50km’s North East of Metropolitan Melbourne within

the shire of Yarra Ranges.

The Yarra Ranges has a history of significant bushfires.

Areas of Chum Creek have been identified as an extreme risk through the Victorian Fire Risk Register (VFRR) process

The Community of Chum Creek is surrounded by native vegetation.

There is no Community Hub/Township Centre.

The population resides predominately on parcels of land greater than one hectare.

A TPP for this locality is currently under development.

The range of treatments currently in place include, but not limited to, Community Education, Fuel Management and Routine Inspections, all of which are delivered via a number of agencies.

Australian Bureau of Statistics Census Statistics

Tasks

1. (a) How do we effectively engage the Community

in building a Township Protection Plan?

(b) What approaches/tools should we consider using that will

inform community members of the plan and

encourage them to build their plan around it.

2. (a) How do we effectively engage the Community in intelligence

gathering to support response and recovery?

(b) What information does the public have?

(c) What communication channels are available?

(d) How do we ensure the information is useful?