ONE of the fire chiefs at the helm on Black Saturday has accepted full responsibility, and apologised, for his actions on the day, saying the royal commission's criticism of him was fair and reasonable.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Department of Sustainability and Environment chief fire officer Ewan Waller said he was deeply affected by the fires on February 7 last year that killed 173 people.
He said if he had the chance he would do some things differently.
''I'm fully accountable and responsible for my actions on the day and I will never step away from that. Certainly I am sorry for the people affected by the bushfires, and if anything I did aggravated that situation I fully accept that,'' Mr Waller said.
He said on one hand he felt personally responsible for the deaths and he was constantly haunted by replaying decisions in his mind that could have limited the situation.
''In other ways, you know you are part of a greater group that were all working as hard as they possibly could that day to do their absolute best.
''It's always on the mind and it will always be on the mind,'' he said.
Mr Waller, his Country Fire Authority counterpart Russell Rees and former police chief commissioner Christine Nixon all received scathing reports from the commission. The commission's final report said Mr Rees and Mr Waller did not take responsibility and delegated tasks down the chain of command on February 7.
The report said the pair should have done more in relation to warnings, supporting incident management teams and statewide planning.
''Responsibility for the failure of the chain of command must rest at the top,'' the report said.
Mr Rees resigned his post in April but Mr Waller said he never considered resigning and believes he has a role to play to prevent and limit future fires. ''I believe I have something to significantly add, particularly in this really critical burning program preparedness,'' he said.
Environment Minister Gavin Jennings said the government had confidence in Mr Waller.
Despite committing to continuing his work with fire authorities, Mr Waller said he would not apply for the new role of fire commissioner.
He disagreed with the commission on the issue of leadership. He said there was some degree of leadership shown in the lead-up to Black Saturday and on the day in both the control centre and on the ground.
Yesterday Mr Waller and Mr Jennings were at Sebastopol, near Ballarat, to inspect DSE draft burn and fire operation plans for the region.
All draft DSE burn plans are on display throughout Victoria for public consultation.
''It's important that people living in fire-prone areas have a chance to hear about and understand proposals around future burning,'' Mr Jennings said.
''We know there are strong views in the community on this issue and we want to hear those views.''
The government has released the details of community meetings in bushfire-affected and prone areas.
The meetings, some to be attended by the Premier and ministers, begin tonight in Ballarat, Beechworth and Churchill. Eighteen other forums will be held between Friday and Wednesday in towns including Bendigo, Anglesea, Kinglake, Warburton and Olinda.
Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron said that, at the request of some community recovery committees, there would be some invitation-only meetings in areas affected by the 2009 bushfires. Those meetings are being organised by the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority.
