As the Dandenongs and Yarra Valley enter the pointy end of the fire danger period, local brigades have ramped up their community engagement activities.
This week Sassafras-Ferny Creek fire brigade has been conducting ‘Fire Safety Essential’ sessions, an entry-level program designed to arm residents with basic bushfire safety information and enable them to build upon this to develop family plans that suit their own circumstances.
Long-standing CFA volunteer and community engagement facilitator John Schauble said this summer fire season still has plenty of potential, depending in how the weather pans out over the next few weeks.
“The hills are historically one of the last places in Victoria to face an elevated bushfire risk,” he said.
“We have already seen significant bushfire activity this summer in the Grampians to the west and smaller outbreaks in the Otways and in South Gippsland.”
“Our risk has been moderated locally in recent years by well above average rainfall, but it still only takes a run of a few hot and windy days to create a ‘spike’ in bushfire conditions,” he added.
Public interest in the bushfire risk has been piqued by the recent tragic events around Los Angeles. Mr Schauble – who worked in emergency management at state level and spent time in southern California studying fire prevention measures – said that Victoria and California were ‘same, same but very different’ when it came to wildfire.
Mr Schauble said differences in climate (California has a Mediterranean climate, Victoria a milder temperate one), terrain, wind impacts and vegetation meant that a direct comparison was inappropriate.
Patterns of land use and residential development also varied.
“What we have seen around LA has been wildfires burning downslope through highly flammable vegetation, fanned by ferocious Santa Ana winds, pushing into neighbourhoods in which house-to-house ignition becomes the driving source of fire. It’s a diabolical mix,” he said.
Many major fires in the US over the last 20 to 30 years point to changing climatic conditions and the need for humans to adapt to this, especially when living at close quarters with nature.
“That message is the same whether it be the US, Europe or Australia,” Mr Schauble said.
While it all might seem overwhelming, there is plenty that individuals can do ensure their own safety and to mitigate the bushfire risk around their homes to increase the chance of properties surviving.
“The first key is information – and there’s heaps of that available,” Mr Schauble said.
Contact your local brigade, go to the CFA website or come along to a community meeting to find out more.
To find details of upcoming meetings in the local area and other useful information, go to https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/home/local-information
