Bushfire Preparedness presented by Chris Carey

Bushfire Preparedness was the topic presented to the club by Fire Officer Chris Carey on 14th October, 2009.

Chris is the Country Fire Authority's Community Education Coordinator for the Midlands Wimmera Area. Chris has thirty one years experience and has been involved in all major fire campaigns during that time.

In the past the message has been "please leave early, if you stay to defend your home you may die".

After the devastation of the February 2009 bushfires and the recommendations of the Royal Commission following the event the message will have much more emphasis on leaving on days of high Fire Danger Index (FDI).

The FDI was developed to assist fire personnel understand how a fire will behave in any conditions. A day of total fire ban is declared at 50 on the index, 100 indicates an extreme day. What has become known as Black Saturday had an index number of 380, in future similar events will be declared Code Red - catastrophic. The official recommendation on these days will be leave early, fires are uncontrollable in these conditions, you are in peril of dying. 

Members asked many questions reguarding their own circumstances, particularly in relation to preparing before summer and the risks associated with ember attack.

We were warned that if you can see smoke it is likely that embers are circulating in the smoke. Both smoke and embers can travel hundreds of kilometers.