Preparing for bushfire
Bushfire Survival Plans
The most important aspect of fire management is the safety of people. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) recommends you develop a bushfire survival plan to help protect your family, workers and visitors. Do you have contingency plan if fire affects your land?
It is strongly recommended you read the CFA publication On the Land: Agricultural Fire Management (CFA 2007) as this booklet contains many checklists to be considered.
Livestock Fire Plans
All livestock and pets should be included when developing and activating fire plans. Planning helps to minimise the risk to livestock and pets and helps your financial and emotional wellbeing.
Deciding when to enact your fire plan will be based on the weather or the immediate threat of fire in your area. Listen to the radio and observe your own environment to decide when to put your plan into action.
Emergency containment area
To reduce potential injury and death to livestock you should consider relocating stock to designated low risk areas during days of high fire danger and Total Fire Bans. Low risk areas include:
- ploughed paddocks, areas cultivated and kept free of combustible vegetation
- bared-out paddocks, provided they are well defended by fire breaks
- irrigated paddocks or paddocks containing green summer crops (green feed does not burn easily)
- stockyards that can be wet in advance. However, the yards must be well defended as the fire front passes.
Relocate stock to low risk areas
You should relocate stock to low risk areas once you are aware a fire is in your area, well before it poses an imminent threat. Often there is not enough time to move stock at the last minute.
Radiant heat from fire has resulted in the injury and death of people and livestock caught out in the open, so ensure you have a plan and put it into action as soon as warranted.
Don’t lock gates, switch off electric fencing
If you do not have an appropriate low risk area it may be an option to truck them to another property or open internal gates to give stock the ability to move away from the path of the fire.
Do not open gates onto roadways as livestock on the roads creates hazards for vehicles. The CFA recommends that you do not lock gates and that you switch off electric fencing.
Find out more about preparing for bushfire and:
- Pets
- Horses and
- Livestock.
Insurance Cover
Careful financial planning before a crisis is key to ensuring your farming future. Read the checklist of things to consider in insuring your property and business.
Bushfire and farm forestry – be prepared
In managing fire risk, there is no substitute for good planning before a plantation is established but if it hasn’t already been done, now is the best time to produce your plantation fire risk management plan.
The plan should include a physical plan of the plantation showing:
- access tracks,
- waterpoints,
- turning areas,
- fuel-reduced and
- safe areas.
Find out more about developing your plantation fire risk management plan:
