A new $33.16 million bushfire management research and training facility has been officially opened by Premier Mark McGowan and Emergency Services Minister Francis Logan.
The Karla Katitjin facility in Nambeelup, in the Shire of Murray, marks a new era for bushfire management.
The new facility will be home to Western Australia’s Bushfire Centre of Excellence, which is part of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services’ Rural Fire Division. The centre of excellence provides enhanced training for bushfire management and response, and has been operating out of temporary offices since its inception in 2018.
“Today marks an exciting new chapter for the management of bushfires in Western Australia following an unprecedented period of reform and investment over the past three years,” said Premier Mark McGowan.
“With a State Government investment of over $33 million, the Bushfire Centre of Excellence will lead the nation in bushfire mitigation, research and management by drawing on the latest in technology, science, academic and traditional land practices,” he said.
“The state-of-the-art facility will become an important place to learn and share skills and knowledge to help us rise to the challenge of better preventing, preparing, responding to and recovering from bushfires across the State.
“The Bushfire Centre of Excellence sets a high standard for facilities in the Peel Business Park and signifies the Government’s commitment to the development of economic and job opportunities for regional communities.”
In the new, purpose-built facility, the centre of excellence will be able to bring together volunteer and career firefighters, bushfire practitioners, traditional land owners, researchers and scientists to share their bushfire management knowledge, skills and practices.
Through a wide range of new and enhanced training programs, that knowledge will be passed on to volunteer and career firefighters across the State to help ongoing efforts at managing and trying to prevent bushfires.
The local Bindjareb Noongar community were closely involved in the design and construction of the new building, which they named Karla Katitjin meaning ‘fire knowledge’.
“The Bushfire Centre of Excellence’s Noongar name Karla Katitjin reflects the way learning brings about knowledge and understanding, and this will be at the heart of its operations,” said Emergency Services Minister, Francis Logan.
“The impact of the centre’s work will be felt both here in WA and across Australia, and I anticipate the Bushfire Centre of Excellence will become an internationally renowned hub for bushfire management learning and skills development.
“In a nod to traditional land owners, the building’s unique design reflects indigenous Australia with curved natural rammed earth walls and high raked ceilings resembling a river mouth and the roof representing a traditional humpy structure.”
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services’ Traditional Fire Program, believed to be the first of its kind, will also be hosted at the centre and explores traditional indigenous fire management approaches.
The centre has specialist indoor and outdoor training facilities, collaboration spaces and an interpretive learning centre to help the community better understand bushfires.
Local companies Perkins Builders, Site Architecture Studio and Josh Byrne and Associates, as well as volunteer associations, the Shire of Murray and the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions were also closely involved in the project. The project employed about 94 people with 55% of the work carried out by regional contractors.
