Former fire chiefs warn Australia unprepared for escalating climate threat

More than 20 former fire and emergency chiefs from multiple states and territories say Australia is unprepared for worsening natural disasters from climate change and governments are putting lives at risk.

Two dozen former fire and emergency chiefs from all over
Australia want the next prime minister to ensure emergency
 services have the resources to fight natural disasters
caused by climate change. 

In a statement issued before a federal election date is announced, 23 former emergency services leaders and senior personnel have called on both major parties to recognise the need for “national firefighting assets”, including large aircraft, to deal with the scale of the threat.

The signatories include: Greg Mullins, the second-longest serving fire and rescue commissioner in New South Wales and now a councillor with the Climate Council; Neil Bibby, a former chief executive of Victoria’s Country Fire Authority; Phil Koperberg, a former NSW rural fire service commissioner and former Labor MP and NSW environment minister.

Read the story from The Guardian by Lisa Cox - “Former fire chiefs warn Australia unprepared for escalating climate threat.”