To me there were two highlights at the Bushfire Preparedness Workshop held a week ago on 5th August - these were how quickly a fire can spread and how quickly we could be cut off, and what we need to do to prepare for a fire.
This coming fire season is shaping up to be a bad one, with high fuel loads after two very wet - years, and potentially a very dry summer due to an El Nino.
1. North Arm Cove fire simulation - how quickly a fire can spread and how quickly we could be cut off
In the workshop Peter Brown, MCC Bushfire Preparedness Officer used a computerised simulation with North Arm Cove as a base to show how fires can spread in our area. With the simulation you could “start” a fire anywhere, and then watch how quickly it spreads depending on wind conditions, topography and vegetation cover.
As an example we simulated a fire starting next to the motorway near the southern end of Gooreengi Rd, perhaps caused by a discarded cigarette or vehicle accident. In the simulation it assumes that there is no intervention from fire fighters to try and stop the fire – ie a worst case. But this could be a very realistic case – our RFS Brigade could be away fighting a bad fire elsewhere and not be available to help. And there may be no-one else to help as well.
I took these photos of the simulation with my phone. They show the extend of the fire at different times, with a reasonably strong NW wind.
Within three to four hours our access road is cut. Our power is possibly gone too. Communications possibly gone. The only way to leave the village is by water, or road to Carrington, or helicopter. Or you could go to the community centre, which is a place of last resort, and wait it out there.
Within about 15 hours the fire has reached the northern side of the village, threatening the houses on Gloucester and the northern end of Merriwa and Eastslope.
Within 30 hours the fire has reached the western side of the village, threatening the houses on the northern side of Promontory Way.
Within two days the whole village is gone, burnt to a crisp.
You might think that these timelines give you plenty of time to prepare or evacuate, but they could be totally wrong. A fire could start much closer to the village, sparked by a cigarette or a campers fire in the non-urban area, or even by some clown letting off fireworks or flares on New Years Eve. The wind could be much stronger and the conditions much drier than assumed in the simulation. Embers can result in fires jumping many kilometres and starting a new fire. The village could be threatened much much quicker than in this simulation. We could get a firestorm hitting us very quickly, like on the South Coast two years ago, or on the island of Maui in Hawaii this week.
We all need to have a fire plan and be prepared for a really bad and fast fire, and plan what we are going to do – monitor, prepare, evacuate? These are personal decisions that only we can make.
2. Preparing for a fire
In the workshop our RFS Brigade captain Bill Moller talked about the importance everyone having a fire plan, and the steps in preparing for a bushfire.
The steps are:
Step 1 – discuss what you will do in a bushfire – plan now! Leaving early or preparing to stay.
Step 2 – prepare your home and get ready
Step 3 – know the bushfire alert levels
Step 4 – keep key information.
Some important points discussed were:
- deciding if you are going to stay or leave. If you stay, you need to be psychologically prepared for a very stressful and difficult time, you may have no power or water to fight the fire, and there may be no firefighters to help you.
- Radiant energy from a big fire can be felt as much as 2 kilometres away
- What about pets, how do you evacuate them, or keep them safe if you stay?
- Do you have infirm neighbours, who is looking after them?
- If you do leave, let your family know so they are not contacting authorities because they haven’t heard from you.
The RFS website has extensive information of preparing for a bushfire. You can access it easily via the Emergency Info tab on the front page of our website, and I have attached a copy of “get ready for a bushfire” for you to download.
