By KATH GANNAWAY
UPPER Yarra residents need to plan for their own survival in a bushfire.
That is the unfaltering message being driven home by the CFA and Yarra Ranges Council as the whole of Victoria, including the particularly high-risk stretch between Millgrove and Reefton, looks ahead to the ‘fire season’.
Announcing an open day on Saturday 16 November for East Warburton residents to get to know their new, official, community fire refuge last week, Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley linked the opportunity for those residents to “work on their own bushfire survival planning” as part of the open day.
The refuge is part of a pilot project that includes buildings at Ferny Creek in the Dandenongs and at Blackwood near Daylesford opening this year.
Mr Lapsley said another fire refuge originally mooted for Millgrove as part of the pilot would not be open, with more work needed on the building located at the local primary school.
The Millgrove Recreation Reserve however has been assessed as a Neighbourhood Safer Place – Place of Last Resort, and is awaiting official designation by Yarra Ranges Council.
Warburton, however, remains without a designated ‘Place of Last Resort’ with the oval, still seen by many in the community as just that, failing to meet radiant heat and other criteria needed to make it ‘official’.
Mr Lapsley and Yarra Ranges Bushfire Shelter Options officer Helen Wositzky say there was no simple answer for Warburton, and while the oval and the sporting complex had been used in the past, there is no way they could be officially designated.
Local resident Dale Cook in a letter to the Mail called for pumps to be installed in the Yarra River that runs along the east boundary of the oval, saying the oval and sports centre provided a ‘refuge’ during the 1983 fires.
“A lot of people don’t have a last resort and while you can plan for it, the biggest problem is if there is no warning – if the worst happens and you don’t get that warning,” she said.
Unofficially emergency services organisations acknowledge that the Warburton oval will become a gathering place for those who don’t leave and find themselves needing a place to run to.
But Ms Wozitzky says anyone who finds themselves in that situation will face enormous risks.
“For people to go and stand on the Warburton Oval, they will be subjecting themselves to a level of radiant heat that has not been safe enough for a NSP,” Ms Wozitzky said.
“The provision of water is not going to make any difference to the radiant heat levels and wetting down is a worse option because water conducts heat. You never wet yourself down in a bushfire,” she said.
Mr. Lapsley said in terms of the Millgrove Refuge they had selected four locations, knowing they might come up against one that might not make it in time to be part of a March/April evaluation.
“What we learn from the other three will help devise what we will do with Millgrove,” he added.
Saturday will be the first opportunity for East Warburton residents to learn about how the community refuge at Millwarra Primary School, would operate.
“One of the things we need to make clear to the broader community is that a community fire refuge is a last resort and will only be opened when a fire is threatening communities,” Mr Lapsley said.
“Community fire refuges are being built to be operated by the community because there’s no guarantee that the emergency services will be there.”
The CFA will attend to provide advice on bushfire survival planning.
In the meantime, the emphasis, and the focus, is on equipping all communities to make plans for every contingency.
Warburton residents will also have an opportunity to get serious about planning with the Warburton Emergency Planning Group hosting a free bushfire planning workshop on Tuesday, 19 November at 7pm at the Warburton CFA.
Co-ordinator Kevin Bargar said the small group sessions would assist in preparing for a range of fire scenarios with hands-on, practical guidance from CFA. Phone 0438 081 252 for further details.
The East Warburton refuge will be open from 10am to 3pm. For more information phone Yarra Ranges Council on 1300 368 333.
