Is Your Suburb at Risk of a Bushfire this Year?

Understanding your risk of bushfire is crucial for your safety and, on the extreme end, your survival.

You should know both how bushfires will affect you, and what preparations you’ll need to make in advance of bushfire season.

The first place for people to start is either the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services website says Superintendent James Haig of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

“I’d recommend you hop online and take advantage of the tools we’ve created to assist,” says Haig.

“Most important is to create your own Bushfire Survival Plan so you can make sure you and your loved ones are prepared for a bushfire if it does happen,” he says.

“The plan includes useful information to help you understand your risk and what you can do to manage it, as well as simple processes to prepare a plan that is right for your situation.”

“We also have a map system where people can enter their suburb or postcode and see the bushfire potential in their area.”

What else can increase the risk of bushfires? Supt Haig suggested a few locality and property factors which are important to understand.

Your property area’s population

“Many people think it’s only rural areas that are at risk, but the reality is different,” he says. “People who live near the bush in city suburbs also have an element of risk from bushfires.

“This includes some of the more populated areas that have bushland nearby, which creates a pleasant environment for recreation but also has a bushfire risk.”

If you’re living in one of those areas, Haig says it’s important to take some steps to prepare your property, such as clearing gutters of debris, cleaning up your garden and ensuring there’s clear access to your property should emergency services need to visit.

Your property’s proximity to bushland

“In most cases we’d suggest people living within a few kilometres of bushland definitely have a Bushfire Survival Plan and take these preparations,” says Supt Haig.

“Other areas further from the bush may be less at risk, but we still urge people to learn about bushfire and prepare a Bushfire Survival Plan. This is because they may travel to or through higher bushfire risk areas for work, school or on holidays. Also, the smoke from bushfires can travel long distances and can affect people even in very urban areas, especially if they have any respiratory conditions.”

The type of land your property is on

“Generally speaking, people who live on sloping land with vegetation below need to take particular care because fires tend to increase in speed and intensity as they run uphill,” says Supt Haig.

“Slope is a risk factor that people need to take into consideration when preparing their plans.”

The current weather conditions

Weather conditions will play a big role in determining how at-risk you are. Bushfire season in Queensland usually runs from late August to the end of the year but can start earlier and finish later in difficult seasons.

“The reason we call it bushfire season is that the bush tends to be drier and the weather patterns that create strong winds with dry air are more common than other times,” says Haig.

“Those factors come together to increase bushfire risks on some days making bushfires easier to start, more intense and harder to control.

Would you like to know some more about how you can be better prepared for bushfire season? Send me a message HERE, and I can send through some information to assist you.

The above information has been sourced from Realestate.com.au. To read the full article CLICK HERE.