SES volunteer who died on her way to urgent rescue was unaware Fire and Rescue had already resolved it, sources say

After days of relentless rain, a late night job came through to SES Lowood, west of Brisbane. 

A local home down the road in Coolana, near a causeway and creek, was at risk of inundation.

Four volunteers hit the road but quickly struck trouble themselves and became submerged. 

Merryl Dray, a long-serving SES member, climbed out of the vehicle but was swept away in the fast-moving floodwaters and drowned.

Two years on from the tragedy, as part of an ABC investigation, more than half a dozen emergency sources have claimed the SES volunteers were not needed on the job that day and were unaware that Fire and Rescue (FRS) had already attended and assisted the family.

They say gaps in communication between the SES and FRS meant the volunteers were in the dark before heading out.

The ABC understands a FRS team helped the SES volunteers after they became stuck in floodwaters.

Charges dropped after two-year investigation

Ms Dray was an adored member of the Lowood SES group and had volunteered more than 520 hours over four-and-a-half years.

She joined the group in 2017 after the death of her son Daniel.

Fire Minister Ann Leahy extended her "condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Merryl Dray". 

"As the coronial process is ongoing, it would be improper to comment on the current operational procedures of the State Emergency Service," she said

Charges against Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland were dropped in March after a two-year investigation.

But court documents, seen by the ABC, did not canvass any gaps in communication procedures or policies as part of the charges.

Sources have told the ABC both services were separately sent to the incident and were aware the other had been dispatched.

However, the SES crew were unaware that FRS had already dealt with the family before they made their way to the incident, they say.

According to sources, this was because the two different teams were not using shared radio channels and SES was not onboarded into Fire Communications.

Fire Communications is the team that responds to emergency calls through triple-0 and communicates with FRS crews on the ground.

A four-year bid to onboard SES into the team failed due to strong opposition from the union, according to sources.

This would have meant Fire Communications dealt with SES calls, resulting in an increased workload for those working in the call centre.

The ABC understands that prior to Ms Dray's death, there had been fierce resistance from the United Firefighters Union to the SES joining due to concerns there would be more tasks for staff, without the matter being addressed as part of enterprise bargaining and additional pay or benefits considered.

Shared radio channels 'could save a life'

A source told the ABC that if the SES was onboarded into the team that handles triple-0 calls for QFES — now known as the Queensland Fire Department (QFD) — there would be increased visibility of SES tasking, which would avoid double-ups.

At the time, SES was a part of QFES. However, it has now left the agency and become a separate unit inside the Queensland Police Service (QPS).

Despite the SES joining QPS, it is not part of Police Communications. Instead, the SES has its own website, app and emergency number which creates a job via the SES Task and Management System (TAMS).

The watch desk in the State Disaster Coordination Centre also monitors the task system and provides manual notifications of tasks if they aren't accepted by the local SES group.

As for QPS, a Queensland police spokesperson said there were currently "no plans to embed SES into the Police Communications Centres, as they operate significantly differently during taskings".

The SES is connected to Government Wireless Network (GWN) in south-east Queensland, but the communication is generally not monitored beyond the immediate team using the radios.

While different agencies have shared radio channels in south-east Queensland, they're not always used on the job, according to sources.

The shared radio channels were not used in the incident involving Ms Dray in 2022, sources say, meaning the agencies couldn't communicate on the ground.

"These shared channels should be utilised more frequently. Why not have inter-operation channels assigned at the start of an incident?" one source said.

'Who is there to monitor the volunteers?'

Outside of south-east Queensland, SES cannot use the GWN and relies on analogue radio communication on the ground.

This means SES can't talk to the State Disaster Coordination Centre on radio and often relies on mobile phones.

One source said this was a concern in areas that may not have reception.

"Unless SES volunteers are on the radio monitoring another vehicle, which doesn't always happen, there is a safety gap there," they said.

A review into the 2022 south-east Queensland floods by the Inspector-General of Emergency Management warned that "current business practices do not lend themselves to operators obtaining a common operating picture if … SES is tasked separately to other QFES assets during disaster deployments".

"Teams working in close proximity may not have visibility of teams operating close by [and] …. may also be unaware of any duplicity in taskings or that another team is available to assist or support them if necessary."

A spokesperson at the Coroners Court of Queensland confirmed the coronial process into Ms Dray’s death is ongoing.

They said significant material had already been received but "any timeframe for the completion of this investigation and/or whether an inquest is to be ordered is unable to be provided at this stage".

A QFD spokesperson said following the death of Ms Dray, "[SES] management worked with key areas across QFD to review operational doctrine, equipment, training, and processes".

"Enhanced strategies and processes across capability, training, and risk assessment were implemented," they said.

The spokesperson confirmed there had been a project to onboard SES into Fire Communications but said "the SES has since transitioned to the Queensland Police Service".

The department did not respond to questions about sources' claims that the union had opposed this years-long process.

The United Firefighter Union did not respond to the ABC's requests for comment.

Family of Merryl Dray were not given internal investigation report

The ABC understands that neither department staff nor the family of Ms Dray were issued an internal QFD investigation report into her death.

This differs from the approach taken with the death of firefighter Izzy Nash, who was fatally injured in a factory fire in Slacks Creek in 2023.

In that case, department staff were issued an internal report that canvassed opportunities for the agency to learn from what occurred, according to sources.

The QFD did not respond to questions about why neither Ms Dray's family nor department staff had been issued an internal investigation report into her death.

"Merryl will never be forgotten by QFD and QFD remains committed to continuous improvement to ensure the health and safety of its staff and volunteers," they said.

"QFD understands the coronial process is ongoing and, on that basis, makes no further comment."