As the bushfire season approaches in New South Wales, residents in rural areas are questioning the reliability of the triple zero emergency service, following recent outages that left some without a way to contact emergency services. Michael Burge, a resident of far northern inland NSW, recounts his experiences with unreliable mobile coverage and the impact of telco failures on emergency preparedness.
Burge and his partner, Richard, have been forced to rely on traditional methods of fire detection, such as watching for smoke plumes, after experiencing intermittent mobile signal from Telstra. In March 2022, a Telstra outage in nearby Uralla lasted eight days, preventing Rural Fire Service (RFS) members from receiving emergency notifications and cutting off triple zero access for at least one household.
Despite signs urging residents to call triple zero to report fires, Burge notes that the system is only as effective as the mobile signal allows. He has received regular texts from Telstra about maintenance on the local mobile tower, but coverage remains unreliable. The Hazards Near Me app, which alerts users to fires within a 50km radius, is also dependent on mobile connectivity.
Burge, who recently joined the RFS as a community support member, emphasizes the importance of community involvement in emergency response. He encourages others to find ways to assist the national effort, arguing that personal connections can help ensure that emergency support reaches those in need. However, he remains concerned that without reliable telco services, the early-warning system may fail when it is needed most.
