NSW: Officers describe scenes of devastation in Victoria
09 Feb 2009 4:30 PM
SYDNEY, Feb 9 AAP - NSW specialist officers sent to Victoria to help identify bushfire victims are walking into scenes of horrific devastation, police say.
Nine disaster victim identification officers from NSW are already on the ground in Victoria, and NSW has offered crime scene and imaging experts, wildfire investigators, fingerprint officers and the missing persons unit to Victoria Police.
Urban search and rescue crews are also on standby.
NSW Forensic Services Group Commander Superintendent Mark Sweeney said eight separate teams had been made up from the nine officers.
"I've seen reports this morning from the team that is down in Victoria describing the scene as horrific, and an almost overwhelming sense of the disaster that is around them," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
"That particular team was tasked to the East Gippsland location where they were confronted with a large amount of deceased persons, up to 19 persons, in one sweep."
Supt Sweeney said the officers were facing scenes akin to the aftermath of the Bali bombings or the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, when NSW officers assisted with victim identification.
"The footage has displayed for all to see that there's actually very little evidence of residential buildings," he said.
"The key thing for those examiners will be GPS readings to locate exactly where they are in relation to those suburbs and working with the local authorities trying to grid search to ensure we actually accurately capture all the evidence."
He said it was difficult to tell how long NSW personnel would be needed in the wake of the fires, which have killed 130 people.
"I've given an undertaking to my counterpart in Victoria that the NSW Police Force will continue our commitment in operations as long as they require us," Supt Sweeney said.
"At this stage we are looking to rotate our teams commencing late Thursday or early Friday ... for the duration of the operation."
He said NSW and all other jurisdictions in Australia would send whatever help was required.
"A time like this for Australia is very very challenging, probably the largest domestic incident we've faced in our law enforcement experience," Supt Sweeney said.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said he had spoken to Victoria's Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon on Saturday, offering whatever help was needed to support her officers.
"This is a national disaster, and at times like this all jurisdictions come together to offer whatever support they can," Mr Scipione said in a statement on Monday.
"Along with every other Australian, the NSW Police Force offers its condolences to all those who have lost loved ones in the bushfires."
