Victorian Bush Fires

This morning i made the short journey north from Melbourne to offer assistance on behalf of ESRI Australia to those working extremely hard managing the devastation caused by the ongoing bush fires. 

On Saturday 7th February my family sheltered in doors as Melbourne & Victoria was hit by record temperatures and brutal winds. Little did we know what was happening across the state as fires spread aggressively, sweeping across boundaries in minutes. On Sunday the scale of the disaster began to hit home and on Monday a report that a client had lost their home brought the reality closer still. In the past days it has been upsetting to hear of the loss of life and very moving to listen to reports from those who have survived this terrible disaster.

My first job after Uni was working as an analyst for a Water Utility, one of my roles was to assist during incidents and every now and again I would be paged in the middle of the night to go a wrestle with Smallworld to get those managing the incident the output they required. Today brought many of those memories back. Victorian Police Search and Rescue are doing an incredibly tough job and GIS is one tool in their arsenal, but what struck me most was the way in which people can manage information under pressure. There are so many pieces of information fed in from various sources in different formats – this is REAL information management. When we think about GIS we often forget the people who pull the systems and the information together. Today made me realise that technology plays a vital role, but it’s the people who command the technology and information that make the difference.

Fires are continuing to burn across Victoria, behind the scenes an army of people are joining the dots to gather together the answers and help those affected. Incredible people.