THE importance of farm firefighting units has been laid bare in the recent Cudlee Creek and Kangaroo Island bushfires, as the state government and opposition put forth proposals on how to support on-farm firefighters.
Labor is calling for the reinstatement of the Regional Capability Community Fund, which provided $500,000 a year for individuals and organisations to buy equipment to protect themselves from extreme weather, fire and flood.
The opposition contends that funding was cut in the state government's first budget in 2018-19, but Emergency Services minister Corey Wingard argued the Liberals didn't cut the funds, but rather returned them through the Emergency Services Levy rebate.
Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said reinstating RCCF grants would enable farmers to be armed with the best equipment to protect properties.
"The recent bushfires were devastating and it is widely known the efforts of firies were helped by locals armed with on-farm firefighting units," he said.
"We are not even half way through the bushfire season - reinstating these grants is a fast way of enabling farmers to be armed with the latest firefighting equipment."
Mr Wingard said he would be visiting fire-affected regions to discuss how to best support on-farm firefighting preparation, but in the interim proposed that farm firefighters could train and register with the Country Fire Service, but "without the full administrative burden".
"Part of our visit to KI last week was to meet with the mayor (Michael Pengilly) and start establishing who these heroes, our farm firefighters, are," he said.
"I want to get them into the necessary gear, give them the proper equipment to protect themselves while they help others. I need to make sure they have the proper protection and cover - like the CFS have in place - and I can only do that if these guys are willing to come to the table.
"I encourage farm firefighters to make contact with the South Australian Fire & Emergency Services Commission so we can start to establish a register."
The importance of farm firefighting units was exemplified at the Cudlee Creek apple orchard of Matthew Hannaford.
The family lost 3500 trees - more than 10 per cent of their 12ha orchard - as well as 6 kilometres of irrigation drip lines and damage to 6.7km of fencing on their 100ha property during the Cudlee Creek fire in December.
Mr Hannaford said the damage would have been far greater had they not owned three units, two of which were used to fend off flames at the edges of their orchards.
"I think the CFS did a fantastic job, but with the type of fire it was, their resources were stretched so far they couldn't be everywhere they needed to be," he said.
"We were lucky we had our own resources to put into action and we fought very hard to save what we did. If we didn't have units, it would be a different conversation."
Mr Hannaford said any financial assistance in helping farmers purchase firefighting units, personal protection equipment and radios, and providing education about fire behaviour and how to effectively fight fires would be beneficial for communities.
"We had some damage to our equipment so to be able to replace or repair that, and get some more PPE, would be very beneficial," he said.
"Personally, we learned that communication was a downfall so we've purchased some handheld UHFs already. It's all about learning from what happened and being better prepared next time."
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