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Your life?
That’s the message from the Dungog Rural Fire Service who wants people to complete their family’s own bush fire survival plan.
The brigade’s Community Engagement Officer, Wendy Howard, said the fire events of last week have prompted many people to act.
“We can understand why people get anxious when they get the text messages they received last week warning of the predicted catastrophic conditions,” she said.
“The information is out there, people need to access it now so they know what they would do in the case of a fire here.”
The information is out there, people need to access it now so they know what they would do in the case of a fire here.”
- Wendy Howard, Dungog RFS
“With the fires out west and up north there was a lot of property lost but thankfully not one loss of life.”
The steps involved with the plan include discussion abut what to do, preparing your home, knowing the alert levels and being able to stay up to date with the latest information.
Mrs Howard said the brigade was pleased with how well local residents had reacted to the threat last week.
“We did early morning patrols in places like Orange Grove and Main Creek where there is lots of bush and for some people only one way in and one way out,” she said.
“It was brilliant that people had adhered to the warnings and had either already packed up and left or who were ready to go.”
Mrs Howard said the speed of which the Sir Ivan fire spread showed how quickly a community could be threatened.
“We try and encourage people to put their cattle in well grazed paddocks, to have tracks around them and to leave gates open so the stock can move freely.
“The paddocks should have a good supply of water as water can quickly become contaminated in a fire and people should never let animals loose on the road as that is the last things emergency services want to confront when they are on the road.”
If people do not have access to the internet, they can call 4015 0000 to ask how they can either collect or be sent a bush fire survival plan.
Mrs Howard also thanked the community for their generosity delivering bottled water for the brigade.
“We were very grateful for that,” she said.