Pinery fire response sparks ire

Led by Adelaide Fires 2015 facebook page founder Rachel Thistleton, Morphett Vale, a petition calling for an inquiry has received strong support, gathering 600 signatures in the first 24 hours.

Ms Thistleton said she was in touch with fire-affected residents ‘everyday’, with many feeling ignored by the government. She believes change is needed before future catastrophic events.

“If this inquiry was held after Sampson Flat, this recovery would be completely different,” she said.

“After Sampson Flat the CFS did their inquiry as expected, SAPOL did theirs, mainly into road closures, as expected, but for there not to be a public inquiry with submissions from residents, I find it staggering.”

Trudy Ireland, Hamley Bridge, lost her home in the fire, and supports an inquiry.

“It would be nice to know that South Australians are being looked after by the state government,” she said.

“I’d like to know how people from Sampson Flat have fared from the state government, and it’d be nice to know how people from Pinery are going to fare.

“Perhaps an independent inquiry will put some pressure on them to be more accountable for what they’re dishing out to fire victims.”

Ms Ireland says state government support for fire-hit families falls well short of assistance offered interstate.

She said re-establishment payments of up to $32,500 were offered after recent Vic blazes, while in Tas, the state government paid a contractor to demolish burnt homes at no cost to residents following catastrophic fires in 2013.

“After reading about the support people in different states have got, I would really like to see the state government come to the party and assist us as much as they can in the clean-up,” she said.

Through the Adelaide Fires 2015 page – which has more than 12,000 likes – Ms Thistleton has helped distribute a huge number of donations.

She said residents were only just starting to understand the challenge they faced to rebuild.

Residents have been quoted between $15,000 and $35,000 to clean up their properties. Those attempting the work themselves also face high costs, with tip fees of up to $53 a trailer load reported, despite some councils opening waste stations for free.

“You have a shovel, and you’re scooping up parts of what was someone’s home to put in a trailer and then you’re charged money to dispose of it – I find that disgusting,” Ms Thistleton said.

Ms Ireland said deciding how to clean up her property was “a daunting thing to have to face after what we’ve been through”, with insurance payout complications adding to the frustration.

“One farmer I was talking to received a 30 per cent increase in his insurance payout because the Pinery fire was declared a catastrophe by his insurer,” she said.

“My insurer hasn’t declared it a catastrophe – even though the government has – so they don’t have to pay the extra 30pc. It’s the difference between being able to set yourself up in the house you want to live in, and not being able to – that’s how big it is.”

According to the Insurance Council of Australia, catastrophic declarations are made by individual insurers, regardless of government or ICA announcements.

A teacher at Hamley Bridge Primary School, Ms Ireland said staff had little warning before the fire hit.

“We were only informed that there was a bushfire at Pinery, we were not even informed that it was heading for Hamley Bridge,” she said.

“The Education Department didn’t inform us, because they couldn’t get through on their phones.”

She said one of the hardest things to deal with was the loss of countless photos of her late first husband.

“We lost all our family photos and family history,” she said. “My children have lost all the pictures of their dad – that’s pretty hard to deal with.”

Adding to her family’s loss, her stepson David Ireland’s house next door was also destroyed. 

Communities and Social Inclusion Minister Zoe Bettison said support available included up to $700 in emergency relief grants, up to $7800 in temporary living assistance grants and a maximum of $11,200 in re-establishment grants – up to $5600 for furniture and personal effects and up to $5600 for repairs to render a building habitable.

She said people could also apply for funds donated to the SA Pinery Fire Appeal, but that so far, only 30 people had applied.

Local Government Association president Dave Burgess said councils in the area had postponed the quarterly rates bill, and were looking at waiving or discounting development fees for applications to replace buildings.