How to Prevent and Prepare for Fire

House fires

Preparation for house fires can include installing a smoke alarm and having an written and practiced escape/evacuation plan at home.

Other ways to reduce the risk of fire include; cleaning chimmneys and flues regularly, use a mesh guard when open fire places are in use, always watch food when cooking, never leave children unattended with fire implement such as candles, matches or lighters, use approved tradespeople for heating and security and fire blankets and extinguishers that meet Australian Standards.

Be sure to know what to do if a person’s clothing catches on fire, stop drop, cover and roll.

Please see the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (formerly FESA) link below for more information: http://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/safetyinformation/fire/fireinthehome/Pages/default.aspx

Bushfires

The following link is full of absolutely fantastic tools to help your family get prepared. It’s also useful for people in the city! We can prepare for fire too as they can happen at any time and many of us also live in the urban rural interface.

Other than preparing your garden and your home, each home is also recommmended to have a written and practiced emergency plan and kits (emergency and evacuation) for people and pets. It’s also important to understand the alerts and warnings and what they mean.

Being prepared also involves a community approach, have a chat with your neighbours, see what they have in place and how you can help each other in the event of an emergency.

https://extranet.dfes.wa.gov.au/bushfireactionweek/default.htm

For current alerts and warnings go to http://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/alerts/Pages/default.aspx

For current fire danger ratings go to  http://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/firedangerratings/Pages/default.aspx

For total fire bans go to

http://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/totalfirebans/Pages/default.aspx