Narrogin council votes to halve the number of volunteer bushfire brigades in district

Shire of Narrogin councillors have voted to halve the number of volunteer bushfire brigades in the district in a bid to boost their ability to respond to blazes.. The aim of the proposal, considered at the council’s April 27 meeting, was to consider amalgamating some of the district’s 10 brigades in order to improve their effectiveness. The proposal was previously raised by the Bushfire Advisory Committee in 2018 but was subsequently voted down. Shire executive support officer Wendy Russell prepared a report for council. “Following the Narrogin East fire on February 6, there were some discussions between the chief bush fire control officer, the deputy chief bush fire control officers and the senior ranger in regard to amalgamating the 10 brigades down to five or six,” she said in the report. “The steering committee looked into reducing the brigades’ numbers, but not losing any of the existing fire control officers. The reduced number of brigades would have a number of benefits. “There were also a number of experienced FCOs retiring from their roles and some new volunteers are being appointed as FCOs, so it was an opportune time to review the brigade boundaries.” According to the report, the amalgamations would reduce the responsibility on some FCOs, increase the number of members to share the load and give each brigade more equipment and resources. Part of the Boundain brigade will merge with Ockley, while Noman’s Lake will absorb the other part of Boundain and part of Narrogin Valley. Highbury’s brigades will form one unit and the Minigin bushfire brigade will remain intact. Narrogin South, Central and the other part of Narrogin Valley will become one brigade. The report recommended that councillors approve the amalgamation with immediate effect and inform the the brigades and Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Councillors voted unanimously to adopt the officer recommendation. Speaking after the meeting, shire president and volunteer firefighter Leigh Ballard said the February bushfires had been a catalyst for change. He said the amalgamations would improve the structure within the brigades and help with the management of bigger fires. One of the main arguments for the amalgamations was to ensure there were more FCOs in each brigade. “If a fire is in that area then the local FCO is who is in charge of that fire, managing the volunteers and where they are meant to go,” he said. “If you’ve got a big fire you can have a couple of FCOs on each side. “It’s more about if someone is away then there will still be someone in charge for that area. “With the smaller brigades, if they go away and no one is there, then no one is really sure who they are reporting to.”