Emergency service leaders were acutely aware of the heightened bushfire risk to New South Wales well ahead of last summer, the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements heard today.
A recording of high-level discussions at a Commissioners and Chief Officers Strategic Committee (CCOSC) on October 31 last year was played during today's hearing.
The footage was recorded for upcoming ABC documentary Big Weather.
The recording showed then-NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons telling members of the CCOSC that there were likely to be many more fires, even as the Long Gully blaze burnt on the state's north coast.
"We've got a landscape and vegetation that is particularly dry, and flammability levels are at peak," Mr Fitzsimmons told the meeting.
"Even during our winter months we've been getting more than a thousand fires a month. Those numbers will go up."
By November 11, three people were dead, 150 homes were destroyed, and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had declared a state of emergency as bushfires took hold in the state's north marking the start of a catastrophic few months.
Commissioner Mark Binskin noted that despite the commission previously hearing evidence that the 2019-20 bushfire season looked similar to the 2018-19 season, this evidence clearly showed this was not the case.
Resource sharing 'problematic'
Commissioners also heard today about the complex nature of resource sharing between states.
Emergency Management Australia director general Robert Cameron told the fire chiefs they need to plan for "catastrophic" situations where there could be great demand for resources.
"This is about the genuinely catastrophic situations," he said.
"It's not just which fire truck goes to which fire, it's also about a whole lot of other aspects."
Emergency service commissioners from around the country questioned whether there was an adequate set up with disasters likely to become more frequent and more concurrent into the future.
It was also noted that CCOSC did not deploy resources by a vote, but rather by consensus.
ACT Emergency Services Agency commissioner Georgeina Whelan said this could be problematic.
"In the past we have been very fortunate in that our seasons start very early in the north then run clockwise around the country, and we have been able to leapfrog our resources around the country," Ms Whelan said.
"There may come a time when we are not able to flex those resources around as easily," she said.
The royal commission will reconvene tomorrow.
