Legislative Council Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Answers to Questions Country Fire Service COUNTRY FIRE SERVICE The Hon. J.A. DARLEY Legislative Council COUNTRY FIRE SERVICE In reply to the Hon. J.A. DARLEY (14 March 2012). The Hon. I.K. HUNTER Legislative Council Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion Minister for Social Housing Minister for Disabilities Minister for Youth Minister for Volunteers COUNTRY FIRE SERVICE The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers): The Minister for Emergency Services has advised: I am advised the CFS was not informed of any burn off in Victoria. Under typical weather patterns, South Australia would not experience the smoke conditions that arose on 11 March. Victoria was undertaking numerous burns on that day, with many based around the Grampians and Western Districts of Victoria. The burn off in mention happened near Portland. Whilst the weather patterns were irregular, CFS is working with its interstate counterparts to finalise a notification system for when weather patterns would direct smoke into South Australia and vice versa. Since this event, a concerted effort has been made to ensure there have been notifications between States regarding prescribed burns. The CFS website obtains information from its operational information system database, which is based on an incident event generated from the SA Computer Aided Dispatch (SACAD) system. This information is then forwarded to other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. CFS relies on information from Brigades to inform the community. In this instance, volunteer officers provided the information as they became aware of the situation. This led to a media release being distributed, with the media given access to a spokesperson.