One of the most important things to do before bushfire season is to decide what you will do if a bushfire threatens your home or property.
Leave early? Or stay and defend?
Discuss with your family if you are capable and prepared to stay and defend your home or if leaving is the best choice for your family.
You need to consider
- Your health.
Fire conditions may aggravate conditions, such as breathing conditions that may make it difficult to defend your property for an extended period of time. - Your physical abilities.
You may need to defend your home for several hours in extreme heat and smoke which may require intense physical activity. - Your mobility.
You will need to move around your property with ease, potentially in dark, windy, and noisy conditions. - Your mental health.
The impact of bushfire can be traumatic and you will need to be mentally prepared. - Your ability to make critical and informed decisions under stressful conditions.
Your decisions
You have decided to leave early. You need to prepare for the season ahead and make your Bushfire Survival Plan with your family. The decisions you make now will help you be prepared in the event your home and family are impacted by bushfire.
- What will be your trigger to leave? This could be a Fire Danger Rating. Don’t rely on an official warning to leave. Bushfires can start quickly and threaten lives and homes within minutes.
- Do you or your family members have any disabilities or medical conditions that you need to take into consideration?
- Will you leave early that morning or the night before?
- Where will you go? Can you stay with family and friends or at a hotel in a safe location?
- Who will you tell? You should let your family, friends, and neighbours know where you have relocated to in case you need to be contacted.
- What route will you take and what is your back up route if a fire is already in the area?
- What will you take with you?
- What are you going to do with your pets or livestock?
- Who else do you need to talk to about where you are going?
- How will you stay informed about warnings and updates?
- What do you need to do to prepare your home before you leave?
- What will you do if there is a fire in the area and you cannot leave? Make sure you have a contingency plan.
If you plan to leave early, then you must leave your home well before a bushfire threatens and travelling by road becomes hazardous.
Your bushfire evacuation kit
You must prepare a Bushfire Evacuation Kit to ensure you and your family have important items and equipment ready to relocate until you can return to your home. Make sure you have enough supplies for everyone.
- Long sleeve shirt (made of natural fibres)
- Jeans or long pants (natural fibres)
- Boots
- Hat
- Safety glasses
- Drinking water
- Battery-operated radio
- Batteries
- Mobile phone and charger
- Blankets (natural fibres)
- Important documents such as insurance and home ownership papers.
- Drivers Licenses, Passports and birth certificates
- Wallets and purses
- Medications and Prescriptions
- Family photos, valuables & documents
- Pet supplies
- Children's toys
Before you leave
Your property should be well-prepared for the fire, even in you intend to leave early. A well-prepared property stands a greater chance of surviving.
- Ensure vehicles have sufficient fuel and move them to a safe location.
- Relocate garden furniture, door mats and other outdoor items indoors.
- Block downpipes at the top and fill gutters with water if possible.
- Wet down the sides of buildings, decks and plants close to your home in the likely path of the bushfire.
- Move animals and livestock to a well- grazed or ploughed area.
- Turn on garden sprinklers for 30 minutes before you leave to soak the ground.
- Close windows, doors, and vents. Shut blinds.
- Take down curtains and move furniture away from windows.
- Seal gaps under doors and windows with wet towels.
- Fill containers with water, e.g. sinks, bathtub, buckets, bins.
- Bring pets inside, contain them in one room and provide them with plenty of water.
- Tune in to warnings to monitor local radio, websites or social media for updates.
- Put on protective clothing
- Drink lots of water to stay hydrated.
Contingency plan
Bushfires are unpredictable and plans can fail. A contingency plan that identifies your alternate options may save your life if you are caught in a fire. You need to consider:
- What will you do if you are away from home (work, school, shopping)?
- What if your pet is scared and you cannot find them?
- What if you are home alone?
- What if you have guests staying with you?
- What will you do if your travel route is cut off?
- What will you do if you are trapped in your home?
Where will you go if you had planned to stay but it is now unsafe and you need to leave?