"Facilities is what it's all about when making a decision like that"
I beg to differ strongly Mach. When on fire the prime consideration is a suitable strip of tarmac. You would be a lunatic to disregard tarmac in the pursuit of facilities when on fire. Get the pax on the ground then get em out. In this case, and I'm not saying at all that YMIA was a wrong decision, but what did YMIA offer above Broken Hill - no fire facilities at each place. In terms of distance to run vs descent time, YMIA was fine. Sure, all the ancillaries for pax handling are great once the shouting stops, but that's a convenience as opposed to a life saver.