The value of communications in firefighting

You don’t have to cast your mind back too far to when firefighting in Australia was quite rudimentary - indeed it is less than a century ago that firefighting was normally conducted on horseback by farmers with tree branches, hessian bags or beaters.

Less than 50 years ago, firefighters worked with unreliable trucks that were prone to breakdown. Radiocommunications systems were a handful of shared council VHF systems … some with UHF CB, others only equipped with 27 MHz radios the size of two house bricks with long black antennas reaching for the sky.

Today, however, the operations and performance of NSW Rural Fire Service and the broader firefighting industry reflects a commitment to embracing, responding and adapting to changing techniques and new technology.

Our communication systems have evolved as part of this commitment. Today the NSW RFS operates: the largest network of radio sites in Australia; automated and mobile weather stations that deliver accurate information on local conditions direct to fire managers; airborne remote sensing and detection technologies; and sophisticated computer models that provide insight into fire behaviour and the likely spread of fire.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons

Of course, this speedy development and acceptance of technology is not without its issues. While we cover an expansive area, it remains a challenge for all agencies to ensure our people working in remote areas have access to reliable and robust communications systems.

Technology has been an enabler for the firefighting industry and has forever changed how we interact, not only with our firefighters, but with the broader community.

The community’s thirst for information is now at unprecedented levels, with expectations of timely and localised information at an all-time high.

In days gone by, the community would be reliant on limited wireless radio coverage and word of mouth for the latest information on fires in their area, or wait for newspaper reports after the event.

Today, smartphone applications give people up-to-date information fed live from the NSW RFS incident management system.

Instead of waiting for hours, or even days, the community has access to fire information within minutes of firefighting crews calling it in on their dedicated P25 IP-linked digital radio network.

Social media has been another major change for the emergency management sector in recent years. The use of social media channels has allowed us to engage with the community for safety information and fire updates like never before.

During the October 2013 NSW bushfires, NSW RFS had more than 45 million engagements with people through Facebook over two weeks. At the same time there were more than 470 million impressions of the hashtag #nswfires on Twitter.

While the industry has become well accustomed to delivering information to the community through social media, it is potentially still a great untapped resource.

Data mining and monitoring social media remains a priority for many agencies, as it potentially provides unique intelligence for fire managers to use in their decision-making processes.

Technology has certainly changed what we do and how we do it - but at the end of the day, people remain the critical element in all that we do. As we move forward, technology will continue to play an integral role in our fire and emergency management, both driving change and enabling it.

Shane Fitzsimmons, AFSM, is Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. He will present a keynote address (‘The value of communication networks in a public safety environment’) at Comms Connect Melbourne on Thursday, 2 October 2014.