MEMBER for Bendigo East Jacinta Allan is hoping the Country Fire Authority can fix its FireReady smart phone application sooner rather than later.
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Ms Allan lives in a rural area near Metcalfe and on Sunday could see and smell smoke from her home; however, the FireReady application failed to show the whereabouts of the fire.
“I downloaded the CFA app and there were no incidents showing on the map,” she said.
“I knew there was something happening so I jumped on social media and tweeted to the CFA to see what was going on.”
Twenty trucks and three aircraft were called to the Metcalfe fire on Sunday. The blaze tore through 80 hectares of paddocks.
Ms Allan said that after looking on Twitter she found other people were also in a similar situation.
“Some people were telling me to delete the app and then to reinstall it, but that didn’t work,” she said.
“It appears to be a useful app but we have to have some confidence in the CFA and the app, that the information they are supplying is reliable.
“I would hope the CFA would fix the app as a matter of urgency.”
A CFA spokesperson said the latest update to the FireReady app had caused some issues with its performance.
The spokesperson said that based on user feedback the iPhone 4 and earlier models of iPads were experiencing trouble with the app.
“It is important not to rely on one source of information when it comes to a fire,” the spokesperson said.
“You can follow the CFA on Twitter, Facebook and can look on the website for warnings.”
Ms Allan suggested that all issues with the app should be emailed to fireready@cfa.vic.gov.au