Fire & Fury Fails to Impress

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Have you ever tried to fight a fire? No? Why not?

Because it's dangerous. Difficult. A job for professional firefighters.

So why do we put bureaucrats in charge of Western Australia's fire-fighters?!

Last year, we had a major bushfire in the hills beyond Kelmscott. Houses were destroyed. Was anyone killed? I can't remember... The facts of the disaster have been swallowed by the mud-slinging, fault-finding and blame-allocation that has followed.

Let's look at rule one of "quality management": Blame the process not the people. Rule two is: So fix the process.

To fix the process you first have to understand the process. The West Australian is having great fun tearing apart Mick Keelty's "fact finding" report into the people and processes involved in fighting a major bushfire.

"Serious questions have been raised about the accuracy of the document..." writes Ben Harvey, State Political Editor (The West, 3 Sep 11).

Further: "FESA has long believed Mr Keelty had been instructed by the Government to throw a hand grenade at them." Well durr! That's why an "independent expert" is employed as a consultant... to justify a conclusion that the employer has already made. It's just a pity that he left clear gaps in his logic.

A key rule of report writing is, If you don't know -- don't mention it. Better to have "overlooked" a fact rather than to be caught in an actual untruth. Anyway...

The government is dead keen to revamp the organisational structure for fighting fires. Have they looked at the process? Tried to improve that? Judging by the changes mooted so far -- no.

Question: Who are the people who are best qualified to fight a bushfire? Answer: Firefighters.

Firefighters are trained to fight fires. They are willing to fight fires. They have experience fighting fires. No matter how many MBAs we accumulate -- no matter how long we have worked in the public service -- no matter how skilled we are in budget, administration and in-fighting -- it will never match the actual knowledge of experienced and trained firefighters.

Fight fires with firefighters

Here is how it should work... Here is how it should look if we want it to work at all:

Create a controlling committee of firefighters. With a trained and knowledgeable firefighter in charge. Give this group the authority to call on other support where and when needed. Make sure that this group convenes when required -- and before, so that they are well prepared.

Okay, when I say to put a "firefighter" in charge, I mean a firefighter who is senior, with experience and skills to manage diverse groups of people and equipment.

Forget about the Police Commissioner's little group of political flunkies. They just get upset because -- they claim -- they are not told when a disaster is happening. Then they can't meet till the cricket is finished. And finally they have admitted that all this makes no difference whatsoever to the efforts to fight the fire.

If firefighting disaster management requires police assistance -- the firefighters need sufficient authority to get what they -- the firefighting experts -- believe is required. If the fire-related disaster requires DEC assistance or equipment -- the firefighting management group needs sufficient authority to call for that assistance or equipment. No questions asked.

If the firefighters get it wrong -- give them better training -- improve the disaster management process -- after the event. So that it will work better for the next fire disaster.

The role of the firefighter is to fight (and prevent) fires. Give them responsibility and authority to do their work.

One non-firefighter still required

Firefighting management is a job for firefighting managers.

Aside: Not every employee of FESA is a firefighter. Just as DEC, Police, any government department -- and any private enterprise -- needs administration, HR, etc, etc... So FESA has a number of support staff -- and support managers.

Think of the Yes, Minister "hospital" episode. It gives a clear explanation of the need for non-health-care staff in a health-care organisation. Similarly, FESA requires F&ES staff -- plus a large number of extras.

Don't confuse "FESA manager" with "firefighting manager". Or the biggest firefighting expense will be fireproof paper to maintain the flow of paperwork during our next bushfire disaster.

Still...

An effective firefighting management group will have a lot of authority. Authority to do its own work. Plus authority to call on -- and manage -- services and equipment from other departments. This authority is required for the duration of a firefighting disaster. A limited version is required for firefighting planning.

Isn't that dangerous? Giving firefighters authority over others?

Well... possibly... Except that is is also necessary to ensure that fires are fought effectively.

I once wrote a disaster plan for a large company providing services to a major government organisation. The company provided contracted services. They were paid -- millions of dollars -- for these services. The actual amount paid depended on the level of service provided.

Imagine a disaster which resulted in the loss of a building. All of a sudden, service levels to that building drop to zero -- because there is no building to service. Staff efforts are shifted to disaster recovery for that one building... so service levels for the rest of the organisation will drop. Just for a short time. But...

Overall service levels drop -- so contract payments are reduced. In an effort to help the client recover from a disaster, the contract company loses money. To be fair, when a disaster is declared, a drop in service levels is acceptable.

So who has the authority to declare that a disaster has occurred?

In a bushfire scenario: Who declares that this particular fire is "a disaster"? Who gives the okay for firefighters to take control of Police and DEC and any others? This is a job for...

The Premier.

The Premier is at the right level to give pre-defined short-term authority to a FESA manager. So that that manager can get the job done.

Does this fire look serious? Do we need to convene the firefighting disaster management team? Yes? Call the Premier, provide the facts, see if the Premier agrees. If yes... then let the firefighters do their jobs. Fighting fires. To the limits of their training, skills and abilities.

Don't buy a dog then pay someone else to bark.

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems. Agamedes Consulting: Support for your thought. email nick leth at gmail dot com