ONE of the NSW Rural Fire Service's most experienced fire investigators sits at home during a bushfire crisis as a "lost resource to the organisation and wider community" and a reluctant whistleblower.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Rick Miller backs an independent commission of inquiry into the bushfires that he believes should include the resourcing of the RFS, demands on volunteers and increasing reliance on volunteer fire investigators to help stop arsonists.
Mr Miller resigned in March, 2019 after his RFS vehicle - with a market value of $2000 - was reclaimed as a pool car. It was the final straw after a senior RFS manager's order that Mr Miller could not communicate directly with detectives investigating a suspected serial Hunter firelighter, despite a prior approval and Mr Miller's history of working with them.
Mr Miller, a volunteer who has led or assisted with 900 fire investigations since 2006, and played a significant role in stopping 16 serial Hunter and Central Coast firelighters - including a number of serving RFS volunteers - had had enough.
"After 34 years, I am extremely disappointed to leave the service in this way but volunteers deserve better," Mr Miller wrote.
He contacted the Newcastle Herald to raise his concerns in public after the RFS, in September 2019, said it investigated matters he raised and initiated "enhancements" to the fire investigation and compliance unit, including approving more paid permanent positions in the unit to provide "better service delivery to members", an updated mandatory basic kit for fire investigators, professional development pathways and reinstating annual fire investigation forums.
But the Central Coast Lake Macquarie RFS district "does not have enough vehicles to allocate on a full time basis to each fire investigator", the RFS said in the September letter.
And in a final paragraph Mr Miller was told: "The decision to resign is yours to confirm with us at this time."
Mr Miller, 71, doesn't rule out that he was let go because of his age and the possibility that his "old school collaborative approach" with other services - criticised as an "infraction" by a senior RFS manager - is not a good fit with a paid permanent RFS management level.
"It could be a clash of cultures," he said.
But the RFS volunteer fire investigator left to fill the hole after Mr Miller's resignation, Stuart Farleigh, 68, said it was "pretty easy for fire investigators to be caught up in" divisions between RFS, police and NSW Fire and Rescue over responsibilities, particularly when at ground level individuals from the different services regularly work together and communicate.
"To have Rick leave the organisation in the way he did, and for those circumstances, I think it's a loss of a resource to the organisation and to the wider community," Mr Farleigh said.
Since November Mr Farleigh has investigated 14 fires, including the New Year's Eve fires at Wangi and Charmhaven that destroyed property and forced evacuations from the areas because of the ferocity of the flames. RFS fire investigators determine the cause and origin of fires.
He has also had the responsibilities of a group captain in charge of four brigades.
Each fire investigation involves days speaking to witnesses, fire crews and others, taking photographs, determining the cause and origin of fires and many hours preparing reports that potentially might be relied on in court prosecutions, using an RFS IT remote log-in that regularly times out.
"Police are much more involved with fires these days because the community expects it, and once you get into fire investigation you're then into the legal side of things, and the reports have to be spot on," Mr Farleigh said.
He backed Mr Miller's argument that fire investigators need a vehicle to carry necessary equipment to fire sites as quickly as possible after they're called in. Mr Farleigh has an RFS vehicle because of his group captain role.
"We prefer to get called to the job while the fire's running even if the call's at 3am. We're willing to do that to gather evidence and speak to potential witnesses while they're there," he said.
"They clamped down on Rick having the pool vehicle, but while the policy might be good on paper, what about when you're trying to get to a fire scene at 3am and you go to pick up the pool vehicle and the keys are locked in the office?"
Mr Farleigh said fire investigators across the state were being emailed with requests to help investigate recent catastrophic fires in southern NSW.
"I said I've got enough on my plate at home. Since Christmas I've been on the computer just about every day, trying to keep up with the backlog of reports I have to get done."
Mr Miller attended 129 fire scenes in 2018, or a fire scene every three days. He also attended many other fire scenes with the NSW Police arson squad as they investigated suspected serial arson cases in the Hunter and Central Coast. He spent many more hours preparing reports that might be relied on in court.
In 2016 a senior NSW Crown prosecutor acknowledged Mr Miller's key role in the prosecution of NSW RFS volunteer Alex Noble, who was sentenced to eight years' jail for lighting multiple fires in 2012 and 2013, that culminated in the devastating Catherine Hill Bay fires that destroyed historic Wallarah House and the jetty master's cottage.
Mr Miller's "careful, detailed and easily intelligible" reports and evidence in the case were preferred over Noble's expert witness who had "significant experience and qualifications in the field of fire investigation", the Crown prosecutor wrote.
The prosecution's ability to win the case against Noble was based "almost entirely on the evidence Mr Miller gave in court", the Crown prosecutor said.
It included specific evidence from Miller's investigation that excluded a dropped cigarette as the cause of the devastating fire.
Mr Miller acknowledged recent changes to the RFS fire investigation and compliance unit, including the addition of an intelligence officer.
But his history in the region shows that serial arsonists are caught when fire investigators respond to even small fires, where the cause and origin are not obvious to RFS crews, because small fire investigations can establish patterns leading to a culprit, he said.
Serial Hunter and Central Coast arsonists have been caught because of the way multiple small fires were lit, where they occurred, the time of day and when there were sudden jumps in call-outs for particular brigades, Mr Miller said.
Most of the fires were too small to be referred to police, but police were advised after the patterns of behaviour pointed to a possible culprit requiring a police criminal investigation, he said.
"It's the little ones, the small fires that the serious firelighters start with, that we really need to tackle," he said.
"The other issue is reckless landowners who allow fires to escape into bush or national parks just before fire season starts each year. They're the ones that need investigating and documenting to establish a regular pattern of behaviour over years that can be prosecuted."
He is not comfortable with a description as a whistleblower. He wanted to keep working as an RFS fire investigator and a trainer of future investigators.
"This whole process has been frustrating and infuriating. What I am after is respect within the organisation for the work and knowledge of volunteer fire investigators, and the resources to do the work to the level that I think the public expects," Mr Miller said.
"I've given a large part of my life to this. I've been acting as a professional while being a volunteer.
"Perhaps in this district we've chosen to be more proactive than anybody else, but it's been effective."
In an immediate response to Mr Miller's resignation letter in March, 2019 a senior NSW RFS manager acknowledged the need for more direct and regular communication between fire investigators and the RFS fire investigation and compliance unit.
The manager outlined improved future training pathways for volunteer fire investigators, including attending a NSW Police arson course, and greater involvement with fire investigators about the decisions affecting them.
"Our volunteers are what make our organisation great and we need to ensure we use their time efficiently, providing support, guidance and sensible procedures," the manager said.
The RFS enacted a vehicle replacement program in the Central Coast Lake Macquarie district to replace five vehicles per year after only nine of 32 vehicles were found to meet current NSW Government safety standards.
A NSW Rural Fire Service spokesperson said the service was unlikely to be able to respond to specific questions because of the funeral of RFS volunteer Samuel McPaul, who died on December 30 when his truck flipped in a fire tornado while he was fighting the Green Valley fire in Jingelic, east of Albury.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons presented Mr McPaul's pregnant widow Megan with a bravery award on her late husband's behalf.
While you're with us, did you know the Newcastle Herald offers breaking news alerts, daily email newsletters and more? Keep up to date with all the local news - sign up here
IN THE NEWS:
- Australian Reptile Park closed, community events postponed and traffic delayed due to heavy rainfall
- Head on crash between truck and vehicle at Cessnock Road, Gillieston Heights
- NSW government weighs up 'strategic merit' of $188m Fingal Bay link road
- Jerry Schwartz works on DA for Cessnock Council so his new cabins can be used by bushfire victims
- Robert John Beavis charged with 10 historical child sex offences