I have a lot of respect for ABC Regional Radio and the service it provides.
I also appreciate the ABC has an important role as an emergency services broadcaster.
But I struggle to see the merit in broadcasting fairly mundane fire updates across the whole of country South Australia.
Driving home from work in Mount Gambier this afternoon, I was interrupted to hear an emergency broadcast regarding a fire at Cowell on the Eyre Peninsula, about 700km away.
Courtesy of the CFS website, here is the actual announcement:
“THE COWELL FIRE IS BURNING NORTH OF CARPA ROAD NEAR COWELL ON EYRE PENINSULA. SMOKE IS TRAVELLING IN A SOUTHERLY DIRECTION AND MAY REDUCE VISIBILITY ON LINCOLN HIGHWAY SOUTH OF ELBOW HILL.”
That’s illuminating, isn’t it!
The update doesn’t even contain information about whether there’s a threat to property or if people in the surrounding area should evacuate.
It worries me that communication surrounding bushfires hasn’t improved since I personally experienced the 2003 Alpine fires in North East Victoria.
I felt at the time the lack of reliable information was a disturbing factor, and similar reports have followed the devastating bushfires throughout Victoria earlier this year.
In trying to compensate, I sometimes wonder if well-meaning authorities provide too much information too widely and not enough information locally, where it matters.
I really didn’t need to know about the Cowell fire today. But hearing an emergency broadcast stops you in your tracks … the first time. I’ll probably ignore it next time unless I know from other sources to listen.
Ironically, the ABC as an emergency broadcaster, is confined by state borders.
I’d be personally interested to know about a fire that may be burning 40km away in Victoria, but I probably won’t hear emergency updates on SA regional radio unless the CFS is involved and it’s threatening South Australia.
The solution?
Surely the ABC can tailor broadcasts for geographic regions and play music in Mount Gambier (or something) while the Eyre Peninsula hears a fire update. If not, scrap the broadcasts unless lives are likely to be threatened.
This map shows the scale of how far the 700km is from Mount Gambier to Cowell. Worth an emergency broadcast of a scrub fire on local radio in the South East? I think not.
