Defending Your Home Against Fire

Defending your home against fire

The scene is of a house and garden with trees at the back and bush a further distance away in the background. There is a swimming pool at the front right with a hose and pump beside it, garden furniture, a wooden pergola and a washing line slung between trees. People are hosing the roof of the house and the trees behind it. There are buckets, radios, tools and a ladder around the yard. There’s a water sprinkler on the roof and in the back yard.

Rolling the mouse over the picture reveals measures that can be taken to defend the house against damage from bushfires. These items can be added to a checklist. The ‘hints’ button gives clues to items yet to be found.

The items are:

· Listen to the radio

· Have a pump for pool water

· Cover gaps around doors and windows with wet towels

· Put out spot fires and embers after the fire has passed

· Close curtains and shutters

· Dress in long sleeves and pants in wool or cotton and heavy leather footwear

· Take washing off the line

· Drink water frequently

· Clear gutters of leaves

· Prune overhanging vegetation near the house

· Block downpipes and fill with water

· Place sprinkler on roof if you can do it safely

· Seal cracks and broken windows to keep embers out

· Have hoses and metal buckets of water handy to douse embers

· Gather metal buckets, ladders, rakes, shovels together to be ready

· Identify and watch places where embers could collect

· Use a hose to wet down walls and roof as fire approaches

· Move outdoor mats and furniture inside or into a pool

· Leave 6 metres clear around any LPG gas bottles

· Bury plastic pipes at least 30 cm deep

· Clear leaves, grass and wood from around and under the house

· In the bush, keep calm, don’t try to outrun a fire, walk quickly if there is an escape route, shelter in running streams, rocky outcrop, eroded gully or in hollows made by fallen trees

Do not run through flames more than 1 metre high.

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