Australian bushfire update - 13 February

As the worst natural disaster in Australia’s post-European settlement history continues with some fires still burning in mostly inaccessible mountainous country, radio amateurs are doing their bit to keep communications flowing.

Early in this support role was Recom, the communications arm of the Red Cross that is run by volunteer radio amateurs. The Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network (WICEN) - a traditional AREC - is in the field too providing much needed communications.

The Recom operators have been primarily responsible for the transmission of registrations of people who are displaced – a mammoth task with an estimated 12,000 people falling into the category.

Recom also has an important logistic and support role for the huge Red Cross relief effort. It transmits situation reports and Red Cross personnel deployment information.

The activation of WICEN for the bushfire disaster continues and is likely to do so for some time yet with landline phones out of action.

WICEN Secretary Mark Dods VK3XMU advises that operators are deployed, three at the Alexandra Incident Control Centre north-east of Melbourne operating Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) radios.

WICEN first carried out that role for DSE in the Bogong fire in north-east Victoria in 2003 during that fierce forest fire that burned uncontrolled for four weeks.

In recognition that WICEN operators may again be called upon to operate fire service radios and systems they had received training in recent times to add to their set of skills.

WICEN has set up two stations at the Alexandra Municipal Emergency Communications Centre and are operating amateur service links to nearby Narbethong.

More can be found in the news section of the Amateur Radio Victoria website www.amateurradio.com.au