FOR many years, I and other citizens, have nagged at the Albury Council about disaster planning, especially following the fires in Canberra in which hundreds of homes exploded into flames, with residents running for their lives.
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ACT emergency services were not geared to handle that situation.
In contrast, on New Year’s Day when a fire erupted on Nail Can Hill, planned organisation swung into action.
Fire trucks from towns nearby assisted, making 11 units and 50 firefighters.
In the past, fire trucks and the ambulance had difficulty getting near the fire because of narrow streets blocked by cars which did not need to be there, but this time the police locked down the area.
Police organised residents with procedures which cut the panic.
A police helicopter circled above to get the bigger picture and direct operations.
We got messages on mobile phones to make us aware of the situation.
There was good coverage of what was happening from our battery radios on ABC Murray Goulburn (106.5 FM).
Then came the water bomber. With unbelievable skill pilot got close to the flames and drop the load with precision.
A big thank you to everyone.
— ANN BRENNAN,
West Albury
