When Bushfire Strikes

Your fire plan should have been implemented well before your property and livestock are threatened by fire for your personal safety and the safety of your animals.

The CFA recommends activating your Bushfire Survival Plan on days with an Fire Danger Rating of Severe, Extreme or Code Red.

This means:

• moving your livestock onto your low risk areas. Waiting until your see smoke or flames is a deadly option
• filling troughs, baths, sinks and metal buckets with reserve water for later use
• disconnecting electrical fences
• unlocking gates to enable quick access if necessary
• removing all equipment from your horses. Rugs burn, plastic headstalls melt and metal buckles can get hot
• if you are shifting fractious horses when a fire is very close (this really is far too late), a temporary blindfold over the eyes may help
• if you take horses out of stables, close the doors to prevent them running back into their perceived safe area
• if hoses are still operational wet tails and manes or drench the horse in water if it has to pass near or through fire. Early veterinary literature based on stable fires suggests that this will protect a horse from serious burns for about half a minute afterwards. (Note: Animals should be moved early on extreme weather days. Actions such as these put the lives of handlers at risk.)

You should plan on the basis that you will receive no official warning that a fire is coming. Do not expect a fire truck to arrive as resources will be stretched.

When fire comes your way, your personal safety and that of the people working with you is paramount, so:

• try to remain calm and alert, think clearly and act decisively
• pay attention to weather conditions and fire behaviour. Watch for a sudden change in wind direction or speed, a dramatic change in air temperature or humidity, or smoke and ash or burning embers dropping around you
• monitor weather forecasts and media broadcasts, especially ABC radio and local community radio stations for emergency information
• maintain good communications with the people you’re working with; give clear instructions and make sure they are understood
• co-operate with firefighters and other emergency services. Your safety and the safety of other civilians and emergency personnel are their primary concern.

Actively defending your property

If you plan to actively defend your property, the CFA recommends you have these resources and equipment as a minimum:

• 10,000 litres of water for firefighting purposes

• a firefighting pump that is protected from radiant heat and not reliant on mains power supply

• firefighting hoses that reach around your home and sheds

• protective clothing.

You will need a minimum of 10,000 litres of water to stay to actively defend. This could be made up from a variety of sources such as several tanks, a dam and a tank or a swimming pool. Remember, dams can dry up over summer and plastic tanks can melt) so it’s important to identify other alternate water sources on or near your property. The more water storage you have the better.

Even if available, you cannot rely on mains water during a bushfire.

Many landholders have a small trailer or ute-mounted fire fighting unit which could also be used to water trees or for ‘washing down’ during the rest of the year. While it may not be able to tackle a raging bushfire, many a potential fire has been stopped with just a few litres of water when applied early enough.

The CFA has a booklet Defending your Property with important considerations when planning to stay and actively defend your property.

After the fire has passed

The main fire-front usually passes relatively quickly (10 - 2 minutes in bushland and a few minutes for grass fires).

Deal with spot fires first. As soon as it is safe check your livestock for burns and other injuries to see whether veterinary attention is required. It is important that livestock are regularly rechecked after the initial assessment to ensure that symptoms that arise a few days or weeks after the fire are adequately treated.

Adequate uncontaminated water, shelter, fencing, feed and unburnt cool ground will need to be provided.

Read more about Bushfire Recovery after the fire has passed.

Livestock health

If your property has been burnt by a bushfire, the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) will provide expert advice on the need for stock destruction or options for treatment. The welfare of the stock is critical.

DPI animal health staff, RSPCA, local councils and local vets will all be working to assist animals affected by the fires. They will be working under emergency circumstances and access and communications may be disrupted so expect some delay before help arrives.

You must therefore be prepared to monitor the progress of your animals and to administer appropriate first aid while you are waiting for professional advice.

Possible problems

Livestock commonly suffer facial burns, presumably obtained when they turn and run through the fire front. Other possible injuries include burns to other areas of the body including eyelids, smoke inhalation, hoof damage from standing on hot ground and eye injuries from particulates in the air. It is also important to check for other injuries sustained during the fire, such as lacerations from running into fences.

Along with specific medical care and attention, you should also attend to all other needs of your livestock. This includes adequate shade, water and feed.

The nature and extent of the injuries sustained can vary widely between animals, depending on the nature of the fire and the degree of exposure. Some may be more severely burned than others in the same group. Situations which may warrant emergency destruction on humane grounds include:

• Unconscious or semi-conscious animals

• Livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, alpaca and horses, with severe burns of the body surface with severe charring of limbs, muscles or facial tissues,
• Cattle and sheep with major swelling to the limbs
• Cows and ewes with burnt udders may not be salvageable
• Animals suffering from severe smoke or flame inhalation resulting in respiratory distress, as shown by laboured breathing, frothing at the mouth and nose, coughing and probably facial burns

• Animals which are down and unable to rise due to injuries or burns sustained during the fire.

If an insured animal has to be destroyed, make sure the insurance company is notified as soon as is practical.

Smoke inhalation

A common cause of death in fires and in the days afterward is complications from smoke inhalation. Particulates from smoke tend to be very small, which allows these to reach the deepest airways within the lung. Severe smoke inhalation can cause delayed lung damage, which may not be immediately obvious.

Livestock may appear normal after the fire but in 3-4 hours can become anxious with rapid, sometimes laboured breathing and an elevated heart rate. Particulates can also alter the immune system and reduce the ability of the lungs to remove foreign materials, such as pollen and bacteria, to which horses are normally exposed. If smoke remains in the air, the effects of smoke particulates in the lungs may not be obvious for a number of weeks.

Limit exercise when smoke is visible and provide plenty of fresh water. Horses that display signs of reduced lung function, higher than normal body temperature or burns around the eyes, singeing of the mane and forelock, muzzle burns or soot stained discharge from the nose need urgent veterinary treatment.

Hoof damage

An immediate threat to livestock left in burnt properties is damage to hooves. Horses left on hot ground can develop heat induced laminitis. The prognosis for horses suffering heat induced laminitis is extremely poor. It is important to get the horse off hot burnt ground as quickly as possible. If your horse displays signs of lameness in the days after a fire consult a veterinarian immediately for advice on treatment.

Within 24-48 hours after fire has passed, cattle and sheep with damaged hoofs may begin to show hoof separation. Sheep and cattle showing hoof separation must be humanely destroyed.