Fire Protection
Overview
Responsibility for the management of fire prevention and suppression within the State's protected areas rests with the Department of Conservation and Environment. The Report explores a range of issues including: the quality of the Department's strategic management of fire protection; the appropriateness of current funding arrangements; the extent to which Parliament and the community are adequately informed of the risk of damage by fire in the protected areas of the State. Key findings identified in the Report were: many of the State's important fire access tracks were in very poor condition; under-achievement of planned fuel reduction burning; use of ad hoc approaches for determining periodic funding arrangements for fire prevention; need for replacement of obsolete firefighting equipment.