Victoria has been facing one of its worst fire seasons in . ABC Radio in Victoria and The River Albury told radioinfo about their activities during this emergency.
In recent weeks, 774 ABC Melbourne and ABC Local Radio throughout the state have been covering the fires currently burning in various areas of the state. Extra staff have been rostered on at ABC Goulburn Murray to relay information about fire struck areas.
ABC Local Radio staff, based in Wodonga have been providing round-the-clock fire updates for the past fortnight and will continue to do so over the Australia Day weekend.
Relying on the immediacy of radio, the Country Fire Authority has been in constant contact with staff to get the message out particularly to those areas that could be in danger.
ABC Local Radio’s Regional Program Director, Tony Allan told radioinfo about ABC Local Radio’s coverage:
“As we have seen in the last couple of weeks, these fires leave devastation in their wake including loss of life, property and assets.
At ABC Local Radio with the help of the CFA we have been able to get the message out quickly and succinctly simply because we have dedicated, hard working staff who have pulled together to help their communities.
We’ve been flooded with calls and emails from listeners across Victoria, particularly in the alpine region, thanking us for our coverage and saying they’re totally reliant on our regional stations for the latest developments and emergency information. Once again, it shows how vital ABC Radio is in isolated areas of Australia.
All ABC Local Radio and News staff across the state are ready to be called in to work this weekend if the fire situation worsens. Emergencies like this highlight the true professionalism and expertise of our staff.”
ABC Local Radio can be heard through Victoria on ABC Gippsland, ABC Central Victoria, ABC Western Victoria, ABC Goulburn Murray, ABC Mildura Swan Hill.
If you have information about what your station is doing during for bushfire coverage, email it to radioinfo
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Chris Rieger, Program Director of 105.7 The River told radioinfo about his station’s coverage:
Albury Wodonga’s 105.7 The River, which broadcasts to Southern NSW and North East Victoria including the Alpine areas, has been providing extensive coverage of the North East Bushfires since early Tuesday afternoon when a fire began at Eldorado, just kilometres from Hume Freeway between Wangaratta and Beechworth.
High winds fuelled the blaze to a point where it looked like threatening the outskirts of Wodonga. We made a decision to drop network programming and stay live and local throughout the night, providing updates every 15 minutes and as news was breaking.
Myself and our sole news journalist Renee Shearer despite having started at 6am and 4am respectively stayed throughout the night and morning to keep concerned listeners informed as to the whereabouts of the fire and if so the need to evacuate. Our switchboard was jammed with callers until 4.30am. Morning announcer, Ewan Dixon also chose to help the effort helping on-air from Midnight until the breakfast show. Although the situation appeared to be easing we maintained coverage for the next 48 hours which proved necessary due to the outbreak of new fires threatening Beechworth, Yackandandah, Mitta Mitta and Dartmouth.
The situation eased on Thursday night, but with areas still on alert we felt the need as did our listeners to broadcast the latest information on the fires. At one point we were the only station on the Border still providing updates on the half hour and as news came to hand.
Feedback following Tuesday nights coverage reinforces the power of this medium, especially in times of crisis. It reminds us that it is both our job and duty to inform and update our listeners no matter the hour, no matter the cost. If the firefighters and volunteers can give up their time then the least we can do is offer ours.
Feedback to the station includes: “I would like to send my appreciation to Chris and Renee for their outstanding contribution they provided to Border residents on Tuesday night in regards to the bush fires.
I believe they worked above and beyond their call of duty and feel that many people were put at ease by them, particularly those of us with young children who were terrified of the fires. Please pass on my appreciation to Chris and Renee. You have great staff at The River, all your DJ’s are fantastic. Regards, Bronwyn Lehmann”