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Bushfires - Ready and Able

As bushfire season approaches, it is important that you make sure you have taken the necessary steps to protect yourself, your family and your property from any danger.

Well-prepared homes are better protected from bushfires and from the threatening flames.

Planning for a Bushfire

The bushfire season in Australia is usually during summer and autumn, but in the north of Australia it is during the dry season, which is in winter.

Before the bushfire season, it is important to take steps to protect your home for the coming season.

Print out the checklist below and put a tick in the box when you have completed each step:

√	STEPS TO TAKE WHEN PLANNING FOR THE BUSHFIRE SEASON
	Store all flammable material clear of the house (wood, paint, chemicals, fuel, piles of newspaper/paper).
	Remove rubbish from the gutters, rake the dry leaves and dispose of them thoughtfully, trim and mow all grass and hedges. Clear all branches.
	Fit wires screens to doors, windows, vents. Enclose all gaps, roof eaves and under the house.
	Keep a ladder handy for roof access inside and outside.
	Create a household plan to either leave early or to stay and protect the property during a bushfire. Include this plan in the emergency kit with emergency numbers.
	Check that you are insured for bushfires.
	Mark all water sources as this assists Emergency Services should they need them. Ensure all hoses reach the house and garden.
	Have an emergency survival kit and make sure your family can access this.

Some local government authorities have regulations referring to the control of the planning and building of home and other buildings in bushfire prone areas. This includes having mandatory firebreaks around the house, certain water-pumps, the use of specific materials, and boundaries surrounding the buildings.

Emergency Survival Kit

Creating an emergency survival kit is important for your survival during a bushfire.

Find out what you should include in your:

When the fire approaches

Smoke billows in the background, a bushfire
approaches

At this point you should have decided whether you are staying in the house, unless your family plan indicates to leave early, or the authorities have ordered you and your family to leave the premises.

The precautions you should take are listed below:

Notify the Fire brigade of the fire. Do Not assume that they know about it. Call 000.
Fill baths, sinks and buckets with reserve water and turn off the gas and power.
Access your emergency survival kit.
Remove curtains and move furniture away from windows and entrance ways.
Wear long woollen or heavy cotton clothing, solid shoes/boots, leather gloves, a hat or woollen balaclava.
Plug pipes and fill gutters with water.
Hose down the sides of the house and garden, focusing on the fire front and watch for spot fires.
Close all doors and windows to stop smoke from seeping in and block all gaps. When the fire front comes, stay inside away from windows until it passes (usually 5 to 15 minutes).
Quickly extinguish any fires which may have started in/on/under/around the house check inside the roof as well.

If the house is alight and the fire cannot be extinguished – move to safe burnt ground. Do not leave the area. Wait for help.

Listen to the battery operated radio for official information.

If caught in a bushfire while driving

Do not drive in or near a bushfire.
Do not drive through flames or smoke.
Stop at a clearing or roadside with low vegetation.
Switch off ignition and turn hazard and headlights on.
Stay inside unless near safe shelter.
Keep vents windows and doors closed.
Lie down below window level under a woollen blanket until the fire front passes.

If caught in a bushfire on foot

Cover exposed skin.
If on a slope – move across it then down it towards the rear of the fire and find a clearing or already burnt area.
Do not outrun a fire, or go through low flames unless you can see a safe clearing.

If you cannot avoid the fire

Protect yourself by lying face down under a rock, embankment or in a hollow.
If possible get into a pool, pond, dam, and stream – but not in a water tank.

Important Points to Remember:

A fire tanker

Be prepared for a bushfire.
Have an emergency plan and survival kit in the house and the car.
You are safer in a house or car, rather than out in the open.
Stay in a safe place until the fire front passes.
Stay there unless advised by authorities
A pure, heavy wool blanket and a flask of water are the basic requirements for surviving a bushfire and being protected against heat, dehydration and asphyxiation.