Forest firefighting by Robert McHugh (Age 9).
World Forestry Day – 1999.
Author/ Creator: Peter McHugh
Publisher: Trove
ISBN: 9780645063134
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3112961467/view
Forty years ago, south eastern Australia was in the middle of a prolonged drought and facing a perilous bushfire season.
A new e-book by retired Victorian forester, Peter McHugh, provides a detailed account of the 1982-83 bushfire season from a new perspective.
While the bushfire season is best remembered for those on Ash Wednesday on 16 February 1983, where 47 people died in Victoria and a further 28 in South Australia, significant bushfires occurred right across Victoria from August 1982 until April 1983.
It was a long and hectic fire season for the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) which attended 878 fires on State forests and National Parks totalling 486,030 ha, which was well above the 11-year average of 141,000 ha.
Over the 1982-83 fire season, 22 Total Fire Ban (TFB) days were declared, and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) attended nearly 3,200 fires during the summer fire danger period.
A large part of this document outlines the accumulated wisdom, achievements, planning and preparations undertaken by the Forests Commission to build an effective firefighting organisation in the decades following the catastrophic 1939 bushfires, and Judge Streeton’s landmark Royal Commission.
There were many “firsts”… and a lot to be proud of…
Two major campaign bushfires at Cann River, together with a forensic analysis of the bushfire at Greendale on 8 January 1983 which killed two Forests Commission bulldozer operators, Des Collins and Alan Lynch, is included.
The ebook describes the role of the Commission and CFA in the major bushfires on Ash Wednesday including the Otways, Macedon, Cockatoo, Upper Beaconsfield and Warburton.
The bushfires of the 1982-83 season were the last that the Forests Commission fought in its own right. From mid-1983, the entire organisation was disrupted and distracted when the Victorian State Government announced the creation of an amalgamated Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL).
The Commission is the direct ancestor of DELWP, FFMVic and Parks Victoria.
And while the book gives strong emphasis to the role of the Commission, it acknowledges the significant and important part played by Victoria Police, the Australian Defence Force (ADF), Country Fire Authority (CFA) and other volunteer organisations like the Red Cross, State Emergency Service (SES) and St John Ambulance.
This story of the momentous bushfire season was assembled using internet searches, newspaper accounts, coroner’s reports, FCV files held in the Public Record Office, witness statements, police reports, personal recollections and some limited interviews. There remain significant gaps and sadly many of the key FCV staff are no longer alive or available to give their version of events.
The e-book has been lodged in the State and National libraries as an enduring record of the achievements of the Forests Commission during 1982-83. The main aim being to place the story on the public record in time for the 40th anniversary.
It’s free to download and share, but it’s a big file with lots of photos and maps.
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3112961467/view
Peter explains the impetus behind the book
The Forests Commission Victoria (FCV), which began in late 1918, relinquished its discrete identity and autonomy when it was merged into the newly formed Department of Conservation, Forests and Land (CFL) in mid-1983, along with the Crown Lands and Survey Department, National Park Service, Soil Conservation Authority and Fisheries and Wildlife.
There had been many milestones for the Forests Commission over its long and proud history, with the 1939 bushfires probably being the most defining.
A large part of this document outlines the achievements, planning and preparations undertaken by the Commission to build an effective firefighting organisation in the decades leading up to the 1982-83 season.
In my experience, Victorian forest firefighters have always been a very practical “can-do” lot, with a strong sense of duty and solid corporate knowledge, that tend to focus on working together and just quietly Getting Stuff Done (GSD).
There were many “firsts”… and a lot to be proud of…
After the amalgamation in 1983, the tempo of change accelerated, with many more departmental restructures and name changes occurring over the subsequent four decades.
The family ancestry of the current Victorian bushfire organisations such as the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV), Parks Victoria, VicForests, Alpine Resorts, Catchment Management Authorities (CMA), Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP) and even the Country Fire Authority (CFA) can all be traced back to this earlier era.
The Forests Commission left a strong legacy of tradition, camaraderie and spirit of innovation which remains embedded in the DNA of these modern organisations today.
But sadly, a quick search of the Internet with Google, or a trip to the State Library to rummage through old newspapers, reveals very little about the overall 1982-83 Victorian fire season, other than the catastrophic Ash Wednesday blazes on the 16 February 1983.
Furthermore, there is virtually no reference to the significant role that the Forests Commission played.
My main hope is to tell some of the rich story of the Forests Commission during the 1982-83 fire season and place it on the public record.
About Peter McHugh
Peter McHugh graduated with a Diploma from the Victorian School of Forestry at the end of 1977 and his first postings with the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) were to Mirboo North and then later to Kallista/Gembrook.
Peter was awarded two years of full-time study leave to attend Melbourne University to complete a Bachelor of Forest Science in 1979 and 1980. During his summer vacations Peter worked at Myrtleford and Briagolong.
Upon graduation, Peter headed a small team to examine the recovery of sawn timber from logs produced on State forests.
After another short two-year tour-of-duty at the Mountain Forest Research Station (MFRS) at Sherbrooke, Peter found himself caught up in the prolonged restructure process that accompanied the formation of the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL) from mid-1983. Surviving the turmoil, Peter finally secured a role in the newly formed Dandenong Region of CFL, first as Resource Assessment Officer where he was instrumental in the introduction of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the Department, then later at Woori Yallock and Powelltow as Senior Forester for the Yarra Valley preparing a major Forest Management Plan.
It was here that Peter developed a strong interest in community forestry and was later able to study in Indonesia,Canada, Sweden and the UK.
In yet another departmental restructure during late 1993 Peter moved to Gippsland as Senior Forester and then held a number of varied senior roles including Regional Forest Manager and State Roading Manager over the subsequent decades.
Peter held various firefighting roles over his long career which began with the Alpine fires in 1978 and later Ash Wednesday in 1983.
He rose through the ranks from crew leader, sector boss and Air Attack Supervisor to eventually become a Level 3 Planning Officer and Incident Controller before finally being appointed as Agency Commander for Gippsland.
Like most staff, Peter was heavily committed to all the large campaign fires across Gippsland including the alpine fires in 2002/03, 2006/07, Aberfeldy/Seaton in 2013, Boolarra and Black Saturday in 2009 as well as the Hazelwood Coalmine fire in 2014.
Peter was awarded the National Medal with 35-year clasp and the National Emergency Medal for Black Saturday.
His work in developing a unique bushfire leadership program known as the Cobaw Staff Ride, which was based on telling the story and “walking the ground” of an escaped planned burn that occurred in the Cobaw Ranges north of Melbourne in April 2003, won him the prestigious State Fire Award in 2012. This was the first bushfire staff ride in Australia.
Peter was subsequently invited by the US Forest Service and US Marines as a participant/instructor in their senior fire leadership course which examined the lessons learned from the Battle of Gettysburg.
Peter retired from the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) in 2016 after nearly 39 years of service and now finds time to volunteer in his local community as well as write about some of Victoria’s rich forests and bushfire history.
