You don’t have to live in the country to be at risk of fire. If you live near areas that have significant bush, forest or long grass, then you need to plan ahead for the fire season.
Gisborne Fire Brigade will be hosting a Fire Ready meeting on Sunday at 10.30am. The meeting will be held in the parkland opposite the Gisborne Fire Station located at 31 Robertson Street.
1st lieutenant of operations Bevan Moody said there were a number ways you could be fire safe, including having a sufficient fire plan and also ensuring your property is well maintained.
“Having a bushfire plan is very important, you have to decide depending on your risk what you will do on a significant fire danger day,” Lt Moody said.
“Leaving early is the safest option to protect yourself and your family. Leaving early means leaving the area before there are any signs of a fire – not when you can see flames or smell smoke.
“Leaving early means avoiding panic, being trapped, making the wrong choices and risking serious injury or death.
“If you decide to stay you need to be absolutely sure that you are well equipped to defend your property.”
Gisborne community safety coordinator Ian Ward said during the fire danger period people had to consider a whole range factors, including:
• Which Fire Danger Rating is your trigger to leave?
• Will you leave early that morning or the night before?
• Where will you go?
• What route will you take – and what is your alternative in the event that a fire is already in the area?
• What do you need to organise for your pets or livestock?
• Who do you need to keep informed of your movements?
• Is there anyone outside your household who you need to help or check up on?
• How will you stay informed about warnings and updates?
• What will you do if there is a fire in the area and you cannot leave?
All this and more will be covered at the meeting.
“It is easy to become complacent especially with the higher than average rainfall the Macedon Ranges has experienced this summer, so we encourage the Gisborne and wider community to attend,” Mr Ward said.
