Alarm over Code Red

By Kath Gannaway
A CFA report that found one in three people surveyed planned to stay at home on Code Red days is cause for concern, according to Yarra Ranges Council’s Cr Samantha Dunn.
Speaking at a council meeting last week, Cr Dunn said the findings of the CFA report and reports commissioned for the Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner and the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre left no doubt a lot of work remained to be done to get the message through to Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley residents that the only safe place to be on a Code Red day was somewhere else.
Cr Dunn said the three reports were alarming but only served to confirm what the Yarra Ranges councillors already knew of both the risks and of the response of residents.
”It alarmed me that in one report 31 per cent of people on Code Red days plan not to leave the area,” she said.
“I find it very hard to believe that you would consider staying in your region on a Code Red day.
“Another thing that concerned me was that 26 per cent of people will wait to be advised when it’s time to go on Code Red days.
Cr Dunn said that clearly a lot of work still needed to be done on getting the message out.
“I will continue to bang the drum on this because 20 per cent said that NSP’s (Neighbourhood Safer Places) were fundamental to their plan and were part of their first option and it reinforces what we here in the community are seeing, and the concerns we have had.”
The key findings of the CFA report – Behaviour and Intentions of Household in High Bushfire Areas – included a high level of awareness that people need to be self-sufficient (94 per cent) and that 84 per cent had a bushfire plan.
But it recognised more needed to be done to cement the intent of Code Red days. saying that significant minorities were still unclear of its status (21.7 per cent) or the required actions (23.8 per cent).
Twenty-five per cent said they would do as much as they could to defend their property and would leave when threatened, while 60.6 per cent said they planned to leave and 31.3 per cent planned not to leave.
Alarmingly, and indicating that the “leave early” message was not being taken in with a particular group, 25.3 per cent of those who said they planned to stay also said they would reconsider in the event of a fire.
CFA chief executive officer Mick Burke also expressed concern about that group.
“We want everyone living in high-risk areas to understand the hazard that Code Red conditions present and act to ensure their safety,” he said. “Bushfires can kill and the only way to ensure your safety is to be well away from the threat.”
He had a special message for the 25 per cent who planned to leave when a fire was active.
“This is not a plan,” he said. “Being on the roads during a bushfire can be the most dangerous place to be.”