By Romy Stephens
CFA’s District 13 Headquarters will team up with Montrose CFA this month to conduct the region’s first virtual fire safety session.
Virtual Fire Safety Essentials will be a one hour online webinar that will help residents around Montrose prepare for the upcoming bushfire season.
It will address Montrose’s fire risk, local threats to life and property, this summer’s predicted fire risk and more.
With Covid-19 restrictions still preventing the gathering of large groups for face-to-face sessions, webinars are set to become a feature of community fire safety preparations this season.
District 13’s community engagement coordinator Tarryn Campbell said preparing the community for the fire season was vital, no matter the circumstances.
“We’re not restricted too much in terms of what we can put together but how we get it out to people is certainly different this year,” she said.
“What people have been focusing on and the challenges people have faced with Covid, we are fully aware of that.
“Fire safety is just as crucial and coming up to a fire season we are wanting people to remember that it’s still a risk, and to take actions as appropriate.
Ms Campbell said there were benefits when it came to transitioning sessions online, such as more people being able to easily access the information from home.
But she said webinars also presented challenges.
“Not everyone has great internet access and not everyone has the technology available in their home to jump into an online session,” Ms Campbell said.
“We are fully aware of that and looking at the ways we can get that same level of information to people.”
Ms Campbell said online fire safety sessions were expected to be rolled out across the Yarra Ranges in the lead-up to and during summer.
“We aim to do as many towns as possible that are appropriate to the local area,” she said.
“It’s really about giving people some information on fire behaviour and an overview of their last resort options, talking about local risk and what people can do to understand their local area and make good decisions around leaving early.
“They challenge people to understand their local and personal risk and create a call to action as well, so encouraging people to take those next steps.”
Sessions will be tailored to the region in focus, with issues such as local road networks discussed.
“For Montrose we’ll be talking about Mt Dandenong Tourist Road and the congestion experienced,” Ms Campbell explained.
Despite cooler temperatures and more rainfall expected in the Yarra Ranges this year, Ms Campbell said locals still needed to be prepared for a fire season.
“We will still have a fire season this year and even though we’ve had above average rain in spring and potentially in summer, that does lead to an increase in grass growth,” she said.
“So people need to be aware that keeping their properties clear and mowing the grass is still really important.”
The Montrose Virtual Fire Safety Essentials session is on 15 November at 11am. To find out more, contact the brigade’s community engagement coordinator on 0418 378 897.
To find out more about fire safety sessions in the region, including the Montrose session, visit www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about/whats-on.
