Public inquiry opens into Australian bushfires
A public inquiry has opened into the devastating bushfires which killed over 170 people in southern Australia
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Monday, 11, May 2009 10:08
A public inquiry has opened into the devastating bushfires which killed over 170 people in southern Australia earlier this year.
The investigation will look into the warning systems in place and whether the official response to the fires was adequate.
More than 2,000 homes were destroyed in the disaster and the royal commission will look into controversial plans to change the law to force residents to leave their homes when fires approach.
Giving evidence at the inquiry, country fire authority chief officer Russell Rees defended the warnings given to the general public when the wildfires were approaching.
He said the public had been warned the bushfires had potential to be worse than those witnessed in 1983 when 75 people were killed.
Mr Rees also defended the timings of official warnings being sent out.
"The official warnings clearly were very, very close to the actual events," Rees said.
"In other words, the time frames are very, very tight in the getting of information and the issuing of warnings."