SW warned: prepare early for bushfires

Bushfires happen every summer; they can start suddenly and without warning.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services advise that if you live in or near bush, fire is a real risk to you and your family.

South West residents are being urged to prepare, with DFES’ Bushfire Action Month beginning at the start of October.

The department’s Prepare. Act. Survive advice is to prepare yourself, your family and your home now so you can make decisions on what you will do if a bushfire starts.

For a full guide on how to prepare for a bushfire visit www.dfes.wa.gov.au.Reducing fuel around your home

Reducing vegetation, rubbish and anything that can burn from around your home will increase the chance of it surviving a bushfire.

For at least 20m around your home and other buildings:

■ Cut long grass and dense scrub. Remove dead material.

■ Remove all rubbish and rake up leaf litter, twigs, bark and material that may catch fire.

■ Maintain a minimum two metre gap between your house and tree branches. Make sure that no trees overhang the house.

■ Prune lower branches to stop a fire on the ground spreading to the canopy of the trees.

■ Create a mineral earth firebreak, with no vegetation along your boundary.

■ Store firewood away from the building.

■ Ensure gas bottles are secured and positioned so that it will vent away from the building if it is subject to flame contact or radiant heat.

Water supply and pumps

During a bushfire, it is likely you will lose power and water.

Mains water pressure may drop or fail and as a result, if you are planning to actively defend, you will need to have an independent water supply.

This should be a concrete or steel tank with a 20,000 litre capacity to ensure adequate defence of your home.

If you lose power you will need a generator to pump your water supply for actively defending your home.

Your generator will need to have more than 1.5kVA capacity to drive a home pressure pump, or a petrol or diesel firefighting pump. Prepare pets and livestock

During a bushfire your pets will need water, shade and a safe place to stay.

If you have livestock that can be moved out of the area, allow yourself plenty of time to relocate them.

If possible, move larger animals to paddocks with little vegetation.

At the start of the bushfire season consider slashing a paddock to create a safer area.

Pets and livestock are not allowed at public relocation centres, so you need to consider what you will do with them in your bushfire survival plan.

Developing a bushfire survival plan

■ What are your triggers to leave?

■ If you plan to leave for a safer place where will you go and how will you get there? Your safer place could be with friends or family, and may not be far away.

■ Does your household include elderly relatives, young children, people with disabilities or illness? When, where and how will they be relocated?

■ Can your home be defended? Is it in a location that makes it difficult or dangerous to actively defend?

■ Will your home provide shelter if you have to or decide to stay?

■ Are you capable of defending your home without the support of firefighters?

■ Do you have the skills, knowledge, resources and capacity to check for and put out spot fires for up to 10 hours after the fire front has passed?

■ Will you cope with the noise and stress of a bushfire if you decide to actively defend? Being in a bushfire may be the most traumatic experience of your life.