VIC:Rees apologises to bushfire victims

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2010
VIC:Rees apologises to bushfire victims

By Michelle Draper

MELBOURNE, Aug 17 AAP - Former chief fire officer Russell Rees has apologised to people
who lost loved ones on Black Saturday and accepted criticism of his role by the Bushfires
Royal Commission.

More than two weeks after the royal commission into the fires delivered its scathing
final report, the former Country Fire Authority (CFA) chief said he believed the report
was "fair and reasonable" and he acknowledged his leadership shortcomings.

Mr Rees said not a day went by when he did not think of the events of February 7, 2009,
when 173 people were killed in bushfires fuelled by a deadly wind change.

Mr Rees, who stepped down from his post on June 30, was holidaying interstate with
his family when the commission's final report was handed down on July 31.

He said he read the report last week before deciding to respond publicly on Tuesday.

"My thoughts are with those who lost loved ones in this terribly tragic event. And
to those people I say I am truly sorry for their loss and I feel for them," he told reporters
in Melbourne on Tuesday.

He also apologised to those within the CFA who were "deeply affected by this tragedy".

Mr Rees said there was no doubt that, if he had his time over, he would do some things
differently, but he still believed he did the best he could on the day.

He acknowledged "that as an individual there are shortcomings".

"In the life of an emergency manager, it's very difficult to get everything right and
I acknowledge those criticisms, those shortcomings that they (the commissioners) commented
on," Mr Rees said.

The final report into the disaster found Mr Rees adopted a "disturbing" leadership
style to deflect his responsibilities during Black Saturday, a criticism he shared with
other emergency services leaders in charge on Black Saturday.

He failed to oversee fire warnings, create statewide fire plans and maintain contact
with what the report calls "poorly equipped" incident control centres, the commissioners
found.

"He, therefore, remained operationally removed from the fires and, as a result, was
not in a position to appreciate the deficiencies in the staffing and expertise of some
incident management teams," the report says.

"The commission observed a disturbing tendency among senior fire agency personnel -
including the chief officers - to consistently allocate responsibility further down the
chain of command," it concluded.

Mr Rees said he was "considering a range of options" in relation to his next move after
his long career with the CFA.

The state opposition's bushfires spokesman and Nationals leader Peter Ryan said Mr
Rees' apology would be welcomed by bushfire victims.

"An apology by Russell Rees for his involvement in the failings on Black Saturday will
bring some level of closure to the people in fire-affected communities."

The Victorian government has supported 59 of the commission's 67 recommendations but
is holding out on the remaining proposals, including voluntary buy-outs of homes in high-risk
fire areas and overhauling overhead power lines in bushfire zones, pending further consultation.

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