Rural News

Fire inquiry | Support lacking

By Contributed

Aug 4, 2026

A sketch from January 9 showing the potential impact area of the Longwood fire.

“At the Longwood fire, Scott Jeffery, Mayor of Strathbogie Shire Council, shared with the committee that only two CFA tankers and a strike team leader were seen on 9 January, 2026 responding to the fires and ‘not a single other emergency responder was seen that day’.

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A similar experience was also reported in Upton Hill. Nick Murray (captain, Upton Hill brigade) said that the crew ‘felt forgotten’ and that there was a lack of communication around resourcing and a general lack of resourcing, stating that they ‘were under‑resourced, and crews asked for help but none came’.

On the evening of 7 January through to the morning of 8 January, 2026, Mr Murray described that his team had only four trucks and an extra strike team to defend the Hume Fwy and Oak Valley Rd.

More crews arrived when a firestorm struck, but then this would be reduced to three trucks from 8 January, 2026 to defend the Upton Hill area.

Also at the Longwood fire, David Webb, captain of the Highlands‑Caveat Fire Brigade, was on the Highlands fire ground for 36 days and shared his experience on the fire ground in Highlands and how his multiple requests for support were denied.

On 8 January, 2026, he requested for more trucks to station the front of the fire, and on 9 January, 2026 for an ‘extra 20 trucks’ when the fire jumped the fire line: ‘It is a pretty hard thing to stand there in front of all your CFA volunteers that you have got around you in private units and on CFA appliances and say, ‘Guys, we’re on our own. No‑one’s coming.’ No‑one did come for nearly two weeks’.“

– Chapter 5: The response to the 2026 summer fires.