Hi <<First Name>>
Hello and welcome!
This is the first in a series of emails we have written to inspire and motivate you to take a one-step-at-a-time approach to getting ready for the fire season - brought to you by Katoomba/Leura Rural Fire Brigade.
We'd love to help as many people as we can to feel confident and safe - so please encourage your friends, family and neighbours to sign up on our website as well. If they are starting late they can catch up on our website where we will post a link to each email.
Here are the six topics that we will be covering over the next six weeks:
- Week 1: Know your area (this email)
- Week 2: Will I stay or will I go?
- Week 3: Yard Blitz
- Week 4: Home Evaluation
- Week 5: My family’s Emergency Kit
- Week 6: Always have a plan B
We will cover tips for safety, some practical things you can do, and resources for finding out more information.
Tell us how you're going and share what you find
While we hope to offer loads of helpful information we also know that every situation is a little bit different and nobody can know everything! Fire safety starts in your street and local knowledge is key.
We encourage you to share questions, comments and your experiences with each topic. Progress photos and stories are most welcome, especially posted on our Facebook Page so others can find out what you have discovered. Or send us an email.
In later weeks, and after the challenge, we will be posting "Frequently asked questions" and "Did you know?" messages based on feedback from this program.
And if you follow us on Facebook, feel free to participate in discussion on our page.
Lastly, we are following the hashtag #getready on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Week 1: Knowing your area and staying safe
The best thing you can do to get ready for the fire season is to become familiar with your surroundings and your local area. No matter how long you have lived in a place you will always notice something new or you may have just missed things because they were unimportant to you before.
This week we will be looking for potential hazards and becoming familiar with local routes and safe places.
These things will help you plan for your safety, and decide if and when to leave your home to travel to a safer place during a fire emergency.
1. Get to know your area
 Task: We want you to get out and about. Wearing your honorary fire helmet, look upon your local area as a firefighter does. Being familiar with your surroundings.
What to look for:
Take a look around your street. Are there vacant blocks, do the houses in your street have bush land behind them? What direction is that bushland from your home? Take note of the types of trees around your place. Is the undergrowth dense or open? Does your neighbour have a priceless collection of old mattresses in the front yard? Look for burn or scorch marks on trees - they could be from a hazard reduction burn or from a wildfire. It is hard to tell just by looking at them but it is information you can use when researching your area.
Part of understanding where a possible risk comes from with wildfire is looking at what fuel is available to it. Knowing what hazards are around you can help you make your street safer and help you plan for the difficult decision of deciding when to leave your home and what is the safest route to take.
Now look further afield. Are you on top of a ridge a valley? What are the prevailing winds in your area? Where your home is located will affect the speed at which a fire can arrive, and will add to your decision of whether to stay at home or leave, and when to leave in a fire emergency.
Task extension: Take a photo of a hazard in your area and share it with us via social media. We are following the hashtag #getready on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Alternatively you can email us a photo and we will post it on our Facebook page (just tell us if you want your name included).
2. Direction, roads and transport
In an emergency you will be able to get information from a range of sources. All of them will describe the direction and location of the fire. This is critical information when deciding whether to stay at home or move to a safer place.
 Task 1: Get to know what direction is North from your home, and familiarise yourself with the four points of a compass. In the Blue Mountains fires often occur during hot dry winds from the North West.
Task 2: Now find your house on a map. Most maps are oriented with north at the top so if you weren’t sure where north is in the previous task you can now look for landmarks towards the top of your map and you will have an idea of where north is in relation to your home.
Task 3: Still looking at the map consider these questions:
- Where is a local safer place than your home? How far is it and could you walk it?
- What is the most direct route to the highway or main exit from your town?
- What is an alternate route?
If you aren't already familiar with your area - have a look at how many ways you can go to get to the next village. When planning where you will go if you evacuate, look at as many options as you can. Be as familiar with the back roads as you are with the highway. Contingency is the key!
 Find out more: The RFS website has a list of Neighbourhood Safer Places. These are a place of last resort during a bushfire emergency.
Sources of information during fires
Look up these web sites and save them to your bookmarks or favourites. If you can, get the apps for your phone or tablet too.
http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me
https://www.livetraffic.com
http://www.sydneytrains.info/service_updates/
The advice is always if you want to leave - leave early. You face many more hazards on the road in a fire event. We will cover this topic in more depth next week.
3. Get to know your local Fire History and fire behaviour in your area
The best place to find out about these topics is your local Rural Fire Service brigade. On this website you can find the contact details of every brigade in NSW. When you meet them look for the oldest member you can find - you will be sure to get some valuable local knowledge and interesting stories!
If you are in the Katoomba or Leura area come and meet us at Leura Public School Markets on the first Sunday of every month.
If you are not sure who is closest to you or how to contact them, send us an email or a Facebook message and we will help you get in touch.
Further reading....
Here is a PDF document available on the NSW RFS web site. It contains technical explanations and data (you were warned!). But please take a quick read of it as it contains a lot of useful information as well. We are happy to have a chat about it if you have questions of course.
http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/4398/Planning-for-Bush-Fire-Protection-2006-Appendix-5.pdf
The next link takes you to the Blue Mountains council maps (if you live outside the Blue Mountains area, search for a similar resource through your local council). This resource gives you a lot more information than you may ever need but it's a great resource to check for information about the area you live in:
http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/bmccmap/index.cfm
Next week
In week 2 we are discussing the difficult topic 'Will I stay or will I go?'
Questions? Feedback? We’d love to hear from you!
Send us an email or a Facebook message.
We are also following the hashtag #getready on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Please share this with a friend or neighbour and encourage them to sign up on our website
|
