Bushfire Season - Being aware, prepared & connected is key
We’ve had a lovely slow start to the bushfire season in the Dandenong Ranges. However you only need to look on the Australian Government Fire Watch website to see that right around the Australia, bushfires are igniting. A CFA-led study (among other research) has shown that our bushfire seasons are also getting longer.
To help, we’ve done some research and compiled it here to make finding the information and getting mentally and physically prepared easier. Here we’ll cover:
The basics:
Can’t burn-off. What are the alternatives?
What can I and can’t I do on a total fire ban day?
Wind direction and detailed forecasts
What to pack in your emergency kit (including links to online shopping for items)
Ideas on where to go on a high fire risk day
Planning for pets
Gender and disasters including videos and links to e-learning workshops
The Basics
Can I burn off my debris pile?
The Country Fire Authority has now declared the Fire Danger Period for the Yarra Ranges Shire will commence at 1am on Monday, 30 January 2023. This may be different for different shires so please check your council website and the CFA website.
Depending on where you live and how your area is categorised, you may be able to burn off excess debris for fuel reduction purposes. There are three categories:
Urban: Burning off is not permitted
Bushland: Burning off is not permitted in Bushland areas in June and July. You are only allowed to burn off on certain days and you must register your burn-off.
Rural: Burning off is allowed on any day of the week. Before burning off you must register the burn with ESTA (Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority)
I’ve missed the burn-off period and still have debris. What can I do?
When we first moved to the Dandenong Ranges I was adamant that we wouldn’t burn-off. I soon realised that the size of our block made this an unrealistic target. Regardless, I do try to avoid burning off for a number of reasons. Firstly it’s not great for our health (or those close by) to breathe in the smoke from debris burns. Secondly, if I convert the time it takes to manage a private burn into an hourly rate, it’s quite an expensive use of my time. I could think of far better things to do. My family uses a Yarra Ranges Shire green waste bin to keep on top of our debris. Using a mulcher to break down the debris means we can get a huge amount into each bin. We also create our own finer mulch simply by raking up piles of debris and using a lawn mower to convert it into mulch for the garden.
What I would love to see is:
reduced or pay for one get one free rates on green waste bins (currently $93 p.a. for 120L bin or $99 p.a. for a 240L bin with Yarra Ranges Council)
coordinated street events where residents work together to hire a commercial mulcher for the day to create beautiful mulch for the whole street to use.
What can I and can’t you do on a total fire ban day?
This one is super important because at its heart it’s all about us sharing responsibility. Climate change is creating the perfect conditions for larger and more frequent bushfire events to occur. It’s important to remember that fires in our environment are not always ‘natural’ disasters. although there is growing research that shows that lightning strikes are increasing. The uncomfortable truth is that fire disasters in nature have often been sparked by some form of human action. Whether that’s a spark from a downed power line, an unattended debris burn or camp fire, a smoking cigarette butt, or innocuous tasks such as a spark from a lawn mower, whipper-snipper or angle grinder, climate change has made it an imperative that we consider our actions more closely so we aren’t the cause of small accidental sparks turning into raging bushfires. Anthropogenic actions are the cause of climate change, let’s not be the spark to set our environment alight. As they say in the U.S., ‘one less spark, one less fire’.
From the CFA website:
“Total Fire Bans are declared by district - there are now 9 Total Fire Ban districts across the State of Victoria. A Total Fire Ban can also be declared for the whole state of Victoria. Each day during the fire danger period, the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts the expected Fire Behaviour Index for each district considering a range of factors including:
Temperature
Relative humidity
Wind speed
Dryness of vegetation and soil (recent rainfall)
Fuel information
With that said, the CFA have put together this list of what you can’t do a on total fire ban day. It covers:
BBQ/Campfires
Solid Fuel BBQs
Commercial Catering
Wildlife scare guns
Burning off
Driving Vehicles
Chainsaws/lawn
Welding/Hot work/Beekeeping
Incinerators
There is also a pdf available here. What I would love to see is:
information provided at the point of entry to international visitors visiting Australia during the Bushfire Danger period.
school programs in metro areas that discuss fires in the bush in addition to fires in the home. Creating an ambassador program in our schools to increase awareness and that sense of obligation and shared responsibility amongst our citizens.
What do the colours on the bushfire danger rating mean? (Hint it’s not the likelihood of a fire starting…)
In the past, many people have mistakenly understood the colours on the fire danger rating semi-circle as the likelihood of a fire starting. It’s important to remember that a fire can start on any day, in any condition but the potential fire size and the ability to contain it will vary. The colours on the rating therefore tell us ‘how dangerous a fire would be if one started’. Here’s a breakdown:
Moderate: Most fires can be controlled.
High: Fires can be dangerous.
Extreme: Fires will spread quickly and be extremely dangerous. These are dangerous fire conditions. Expect hot, dry and windy conditions.
Catastrophic: If a fire starts and takes hold, lives are likely to be lost. These are the most dangerous conditions for a fire.
As a PhD candidate interviewing locals around Victoria, I heard on more than one occasion that ‘it wasn’t even a total fire ban day”, or ‘it’s wasn’t even a catastrophic day’ when the fire started. We do need to keep reminding ourselves that a fire can start on any day, but knowing what these colours mean will tell you how dangerous a fire could become.
Wind direction and other useful information
Back in January 2020 I was in QLD watching the Vic Emergency App watching an incident unfolding close to my house. 23 trucks were attending a house fire. I flicked the wind direction tab on and my heart sank. The wind direction put our house in the path of flying embers or, worst case, a fire. Our house was saved with only minor scorching on our lawn but it certainly was an interesting way to learn how to use the wind direction tab.
It’s pretty obvious but knowing the wind direction is crucial to understanding your risk on any given day. Thankfully it’s easy to find out. VicEmergency is the official Victorian Government app for emergency warnings and information. Download VicEmergency, set up a user profile and watch zones to ensure you receive official warnings and information for areas that interest you. This video may be of use too. Once you are in the App, look at your location map, then tap the Filter button and set the Wind Direction and Speed overlay option.
Detailed forecasts
Bushfire Danger Ratings are provided up to 4 days in advance. If you are planning a trip you may want some information about conditions further in advance. It’s important to note that this information is not official and should only be used as an indication ahead of the anticipated official ratings information. As mentioned previously , information such as, humidity, wind speed and temperature play a big part in declaring total fire ban days. This information can be accessed up to a week in advance on detailed forecast page of the Bureau of Meteorology’s website. To give some base, it’s helpful to keep the 30+30+30 rule in mind. Being aware of fire danger ratings is important every day during the fire danger period. You need to have heighten awareness to upcoming official fire danger ratings if you see that a day (say 5 to 7 days ahead) will potentially have temperatures above 30, wind speeds above 30 and humidity below 30.
What will you take in my emergency kit?
The CFA Fire Ready Kit is an excellent place to start. You can download it here.
Your emergency kit should contain the items in this image. Here are some links to places to purchase these items online:
Woolen blankets:
Emergency Radios - here’s a review:
First Aid Kits:
Here is an interesting video from the ABC series Big Weather to help you consider what to bring: https://youtu.be/UfXsRpZ6js0
Where will you go if your bushfire plan is activated?
This is always a tough question to answer. Everyone’s situation is different. If you don’t think ahead, the obvious place many head is a shopping centre. These can be really costly. Here are some alternative places that people offen go:
Indoor swimming centres: Places such as Aquanation in Ringwood, Knox Leisureworks in Boronia and Noble Park Aquatic Centre in Noble Park are good places to cool off. Bring a packed lunch to keep costs down.
Civic Centres: Bunjil Place in Narre Warren always has a great list of things to do or enjoy a quiet spot in the library.
City Centre Museums:
Planning for Pets
Planning for pets is really crucial. Along with ensuring your pet has an identification tag or is micro-chipped, you should train your pet (dogs and cats too) to wear a muzzle. Although you know that your pet would never harm anyone, you may not know how they will react in an extremely stressful situation with unknown people and other animals around them.
The Issue of Gender
Gender and bushfire preparedness and response doesn’t really get much attention in Australia, but it is a thing. The Effective Communication: Communities and Bushfire project conducted research that highlighted how agencies in Australia are still not conducting a gendered analysis to disasters despite it being well documented that men and women experience and are affected by disasters differently. It definitely isn’t following International research and recommendations.
Back in 2007, research by Dr Christine Eriksen from UOW’s School of Geography and Sustainable Communities examined social dimensions of bushfire vulnerability and resilience. She found that, “many women deprioritise bushfire preparation in the context of other pressing issues in everyday life, while “societal pressure sees men perform protective roles that many have neither the knowledge nor ability to attempt to fulfil safely”. These social dimensions highlight a huge risk to both men and women. “Gender inequality, coupled with climate and environment crises, is the greatest sustainable development challenge of the present time” (UNDRR). Deciding on and committing to tasks when preparing for and responding to a fire emergency will help to reduce the risks.
The National Rural Women’s Coaltion has created the Weather the Storm kit to prepare and support women during a disaster. Although the kit is set out and designed to be delivered for community groups., it can be used by individuals. I found pages 8 - 11 of Part 3- Resouces useful as it provides an easy to follow Preparedness Plan. You can download this here. Another great online information source on this topic is Gender & Disaster Australia (GDA) , an organisation founded in 2015 that “promotes an understanding of the role played by gender in survivor responses to natural disaster, and to embed these insights into emergency management practice”. Their resources page of journal articles, research, conferences, guidelines and roadmaps really impressive.
CFA Bushfire Planning Workshops are important to attend. Sadly they are rarely at a time that suits women. They are either at night, around the time of kids bedtimes or on a Saturday morning which clash with kids sports. To help bridge the gap in access to information, the CFA has a series of e-learning workshops that you can do in your own time.
Bushfire Planning for you and the person you care for
This learning module is intended to support people who are caring for others living in high bushfire risk areas. It is relevant to anyone who provides unpaid care or support to family members and/or friends with a disability, mental illness, chronic health issue or age-related condition. This is sometimes referred to as informal care. https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/your-local-area-info-and-advice/e-learning
You can also access all CFA available publications electronically via the CFA Website: https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about-us/publications/plan-and-prepare-publications/plan-and-prepare
Lastly, here is the Bushfire Survival Template that you should fill out: Link here
This example completed Bushfire Surival plan was a great help: Link here
Young Minds: Preparing our kids
In 2021, Mums of the Hills, with the support of the University of Melbourne and Emerald Community House, provided an online seminar on preparing our families for disasters. Below is the video recording of this incredibly insightful event.
Community Considerations
Do you know what your neighbour’s bushfire plan is? What about the people you have put on your child’s emergency contact list? If the answer is no, it’s really important you find out. The sudden realisation that my emergency contact for my children was also the emergency contact for 10 other kids (and their own) made me go a weak.
The National Strategy for Disaster Reduction (COAG 2011) calls for increased responsibility on the part of communities and individuals. It is still unclear however what community responsibility actual is. What we do know is that a more connected community is able to respond to and recover from a disaster better. Not that that’s an easy thing to do this, but a connected community is definitely something to aspire to. Here are some ideas to help community preparedness:
Partner with local agencies, services and groups
Encourage locals to participate. Perhaps your area would benefit from a Community Fireguard Group?
Hold regular group meetings that:
Plan for a range of scenarios
Make informed decisions when it counts
Maintain a fire smart house and garden
Work together with your community to reduce everyone's bushfire risk
Identify locals with additional needs
Help spread official information about individual home preparedness
Decide how you are going to check on your neighbours/your community. Does your community ‘bush telegraph’ need to be revitalised?
Further Information
This collection brings together resources, tools and research to support emergency planning in Australia. A fantastic knowledge hub that should receive greater attention. https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/collections/emergency-planning/
Policy brief: Gender-responsive disaster risk reduction: This policy brief by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction explores challenges faced in gender-responsive disaster risk reduction. Link here
Suggested research linking connected communities and recovery can be found:
