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Despite making up 18% of the population, people with disability account for nearly half of fire-related fatalities. Advocates argue that systemic failures in emergency preparedness put lives at risk.
Megan Spindler Smith, the Deputy CEO of People with Disability Australia, lives on a property near the Hawkesbury River in semi-rural NSW.
As an ambulant wheelchair user, they recall being faced with an impossible choice in late 2019 as the Bilpin fire headed in their direction. As the flames licked at Megan’s homestead, they attempted to hold down the property on their own.
“I was metaphorically running around, because really I was just kind of dragging myself around to put out the fires,” they said.
Megan was forced to choose between moving to a location they were told was inaccessible or stay where they were in a potentially life-threatening situation.
The local evacuation centre did not have a wheelchair accessible space. I would not have been able to use a bathroom…Instead, I had to make the decision to try and shore up my home.
Although the fire did not hit their house directly, there were spot fires and their property lost power: “It was probably better to just leave early and get out…however, it was not possible at the time for someone to come and help me.”
Looking back, Megan realised they were between a rock and a hard place: “People with disability are expected to evacuate early, but if there's no actual process to provide early warning, then it's not actually possible for us to evacuate.”
Megan acknowledges this is because of systemic misunderstandings of disability, rather than the willingness of emergency crews.
“I was scared,” they said. “Unlike a lot of the people around me, I wasn't prepared. I didn't know how to be prepared.”
As a wheelchair user, I didn't even know where my closest accessible evacuation centre was…nobody knew…and it wasn't as close as expected.”
According to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, people with disability are at disproportionate risk of being affected by fires and other emergencies in their homes.
On average, approximately 64 people across Australia die in preventable fires in their homes each year, and approximately 62% of these people have a disability.
What’s more, the Australian Journal of Emergency Management published a study stating people with disability accounted for 47% of fire fatalities in Australia between 2003 and 2017, yet the prevalence of disability in this country is 1 in 6.
That’s 18% or about 4.4 million people, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This study also highlighted a significant representation of fire fatalities with no clear declining trend in regional and remote areas.
The figures are equally shocking in both the United Kingdom and the USA.
Evidence from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry found that of the 72 people who lost their lives in the catastrophe fire, 41% had a disability. At the Inquiry, Fazilet Hadi, Disability Rights UK Head of Policy was quoted saying that:
Disabled people knew they were sitting ducks should there be a disaster. They raised safety concerns which were dismissed time and again. The Inquiry has heard from residents who said they were “bullied” and “stigmatised” when they raised such concerns.”
Over in the U.S, Rory Callum Sykes, a 32-year-old Australian man with cerebral palsy and other disabilities died while living in a cottage on his mother’s, Shelley, 17-acre property during the recent LA bushfires. This was due to his mother’s calls not connecting to emergency services and being unable to lift him herself.
Shelley was forced to leave her son, driving 400 metres through the smoke to the local fire station, only to be told crews had no water. When she returned home, her son's cottage was burnt to the ground
“No person with disability should have to rely on having a wonderful neighbour or a good friend,” Megan stresses. “That is our emergency services responsibility. And I'm not talking about our volunteer services, I'm talking about our wider services.”
Clare Gibellini is the Policy Officer for Women with Disabilities Australia. Based in Western Australia, Clare volunteers with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, facilitating free webinars for different groups around the importance of preparedness for people with disability.
She says a friend of hers was almost left behind because of inadequate planning and danger warnings:
“I have an amazing friend who's deafblind. There was a fire, and they were ordered to evacuate,” Ms Gibellini explains.
“She didn't get the warnings and it's only because she's connected to the local political party that they thought to come and get her. She didn't even know this was happening.”
Deputy CEO of People with Disability Australia, Megan Spindler Smith suggests assumptions rather than evidence lead to problems:
There's a lot of assumptions around accessibility of advanced warnings that everyone can access them if they're based on a telephone…That's not always the case.
Clare Gibellini blames a one-size-fits all approach:
“I think all Australians have this idea that we can just call triple zero and someone will come…but if that's our only plan, then that puts us at more risk,” she says.
The Policy Officer argues Emergency Preparedness needs to be a cohesive partnership between the disabled community, and the government, states and territories.
Stuart Mawbey agrees.
He’s a volunteer SES emergency serviceman, in New South Wales and South Australia, who has over the last 25 years responded to various types of emergencies including assisting the Rural Fire Service with bushfires:
“It does come down to the problems of federation,” he says.
“States have primary responsibility and the legislative power of the constitutional clout to make sure these emergency agencies exist,” Mr Mawbey explains. “They've all got different ways of doing things and they don't coordinate.”
While waiting, what can people with disability do to prepare in an emergency evacuation?
Clare says it’s important to know what to do, when to do it and to notify your contacts in advance. Don’t wait until an emergency.
Having a plan that we've got in place and communicated to other people that work with us or support us. There's no point having a plan and keeping it to yourself.
Photo: Megan Spindler Smith
As for states and territories, Megan stresses a lot more needs to be done to lower the rate of fatalities: “The reason that there is a discrepancy is either a lack of access to understanding what people with disability need, or a lack of research.”
Megan Spindler, as Deputy CEO of PWD says their organisation is looking to change that by releasing a resource that's built on lived experience of people with disability.
The resource makes recommendations to both state and territory to help them understand and see in full how to consistently apply it in their local areas.
“We want to work with both states and territories to provide a forum in the coming months to really discuss the reform that's required and the ways that we can advance disaster preparedness.”