Same, same, but different.

Same, same but different.

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Same Same.

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Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, the world, structural and bushfires continue unabated. According to one Queensland media source (Courier Mail, 23 June 2024) there have already been 715 house fires this year. The years 2019 onwards continue to highlight climate change effects on local and international bushfires and deaths due to heatwaves.

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24 years ago on this day, a fire occurred in the Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel. Fifteen young people from England, Holland, Ireland, South Korea, Japan and Australia lost their lives, for no other reason than being where they were (asleep) at that time. Likewise, of the 80 or so international and Australian backpackers that survived, most, if not all, are still traumatised by the event, as are many of the attending firefighters and other emergency service workers.

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The immediate and ongoing suffering felt by the families and friends of those affected by the tragedy of fire may diminish over time but never completely disappear.

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Same Same.

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Different.

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The Childers incident (occurred just after midnight June 22nd 2000) highlighted the start of things to come, something completely different for fire service and emergency services.?

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Graham Metcalf (at the time of the Childers fire, the Director of Communications and Media for the Queensland Fire and Rescue Authority QFRA) was based in Brisbane and attended the incident in Childers, a 3 1/2hr travel distance at around 5.30 am. His first request for a media interview (as a voice of authority) was from CNN in Atlanta in the USA. They already had vision and comments from travellers. In that year there were no iPhone, no social media, but many of the escaping backpackers had immediately gone to an internet cafe (a thing back then) to advise their parents and friends that they were Ok immediately after their escape 12.30am to 1am.

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By the time I was contacted by the then Chief Commissioner Mr Wayne Hartley, it was approx. 4.30 am. He was requesting asap all available information on the fire safety of all similar types of premises across the state (originally some 4000 odd buildings, which later definition became approx. 2,500).

The C/Commissioner, the then Minister and Premier of the state were already being contacted by embassy’s from around the world looking for further information.

As my friend and colleague wrote and added in a comment in a recent article,

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“Things which didn’t exist 24 years ago, include: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn. Also no TikTok, Gmail, Netflix streaming, WhatsApp, Google Maps, iPhone, Zoom, Skype, Teams, (Telegram, Tinder or) Messenger.?

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Amazing when you consider just how much time is spent on these apps every minute of the day (picture - 2021 data credit LoriLewis & OfficiallyChadd). This pie chart is now also way out of date and new apps need to be added and an update on the stats, but what you see is already daunting.

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Let's not forget the collective trauma, suffering and sadness felt by human beings, those involved in fire tragedies, even 24 years on and even with the amazing advances in communication technology.

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GT