Preparedness

Preparedness activities focus on essential emergency response capabilities through the development of plans, procedures, organisation and management of resources, training and public education.

Know what you need to be prepared for when fire comes

Have you made the decision whether you will prepare, act, survive in a fire emergency?

Visit this website to find out more about your decision.

Have a plan. Make it now.

Make sure family, friends and neighbours know what you will be doing in an emergency. You need to ensure your plans cover everything that may go wrong. Do you really understand the consequences to you and your family if one or more of you get seriously injured?

Please consider all the issues and facts and make a sound decision that the whole family understands.

Find out more about whether you should Prepare, Act, Survive.

Prepare, Act, Survive Booklet (2.8MB)

Preparing yourself, your family and your home is your responsibility

The more you prepare your home the better the chance it will survive a fire, even if you have left well before the fire because your plan is to leave. With planning and effort the majority of houses in bushfire risk areas can survive most bushfires. A well prepared home will give you more protection if a fire threatens suddenly and you cannot leave.

During a major bushfire; firefighters will be working to stop the fire. A fire truck may not be available to defend your home. What will you do if there are no fire trucks available? What is your plan?

It is your responsibility to reduce the risk to you, your home and your property, and take actions to survive the bushfire.

How prepared are you and your family?

What is your bushfire risk?
How will you know what is happening in your area?
If there is a bushfire how will you stay alert and know when to take action?
How prepared is your property? Can your home be defended? Will it provide you with shelter if you have to or decide to stay?
Being in a bushfire may be the most traumatic experience of your life?
How prepared are you and your family? Will you cope with the noise, the stress and the long term trauma of a bushfire?

What will you do to be safe?

Bushfires can change quickly and often without warning. Think about how you may be affected:

If you have no time to leave and a fire threatens you – what will you do, where will you shelter and how will you get there?
If you are going to leave – where will you go, how will you get there, what will you take and how will you know when to leave?
If you are going to stay – prepare for a frightening experience, have a plan for how you will actively defend your house, how you are going to survive and where you will shelter. Find out what equipment you need.
What you will do if things do not go according to your plan?

Physical, mental and emotional preparedness

If you live through a bushfire you may have physical, mental and emotional pain from the experience itself so you will need to consider how you and the rest of your family or household will cope.

Fires can be very frightening, and may make it hard to think clearly or make good decisions. It is important you prepare and practice your bushfire survival plan before the bushfire season starts. This plan will give you a clear set of actions to follow before, during and after a bushfire:

Picture yourself in the middle of bushfire

Before the main fire reaches you, your home may be surrounded by showers of sparks and embers. This can happen for several hours. Embers will collect in corners of your house and will need to be extinguished
It is likely there will be strong winds and as the fire gets closer burning leaves and bark will begin to land around your home
Thick, heavy smoke will make it dark and you may not be able to see. Breathing may be difficult and your eyes will water and may become red and sore
It will be very hot and you will need to wear your protective clothing
The fire will make a very loud roaring noise that you may find scary. The burning, crackling and roaring of the fire will be in addition to howling strong winds and sirens from emergency vehicles
You may lose power, telephone and water services
The fire front will normally take five to 15 minutes to pass your home. This is when radiant heat given off by the fire will be at its highest. When it is uncomfortable you should shelter inside your home. At this time you will need to check the inside of your house for spot fires

Now ask yourself:

Will I be able to cope during a bushfire?
Will my family or household cope during a bushfire?
What if family or friends are visiting, how will they cope?

Defending your home during a bushfire will take several hours. This includes the time needed to do hard tasks before the fire front reaches your home and then watching for spot fires.

You will need to be in good physical health, with the mobility and ability to maintain a constant watch on your home and surrounding area before, during and after the fire.

Think about any medical conditions that may be an issue from stress and smoke (for example asthma and other respiratory conditions, and heart conditions). These may affect your ability to defend your home.

Bushfire survival plan

If you live in a bushfire risk area you must have a bushfire survival plan. This plan will help you take action and avoid making last minute decisions that could prove deadly during a bushfire.

Develop your plan as a family and make sure you write it down. If you are by yourself you may like to form a plan with a neighbour. Give everybody their own tasks and have a list of actions to take if there is a bushfire.

Keep your bushfire survival plan in an easy to find place and make sure everyone knows where it is. Practice your plan regularly and review it every year.

Prepare your home and property

You should prepare your home to survive the fire front, even if your plan is to leave. The more you prepare your home the better the odds it will survive the fire.

A well prepared and constructed house is more likely to survive a bushfire than an unprepared one.

Walk around your property and imagine a bushfire is approaching. Identify items that are likely to burn or where embers are likely to enter and start a fire.

When the Fire Danger Rating is catastrophic for your area it means any fires that start are likely to be so fierce even a well prepared, well constructed and actively defended house may not survive a bushfire. If this sort of fire weather is expected you should leave the day before or hours before a fire might threaten as this is the best option for your survival.

Preparing your property for bushfire season (356KB)

It is your responsibility.

Now is the time to complete and action this checklist.

Prepare your pets and livestock

During a bushfire your pets will need water, shade and a safe place to be. If you have livestock that can be moved out of the area, allow yourself plenty of time to move them.

If possible move larger animals to paddocks with little vegetation. At the start of the bushfire season consider slashing a paddock to create a safer area.

Never turn animals out on to the road to run free. This is dangerous for fire trucks and vehicles, and you may be legally responsible if they cause an accident.

Pets are not allowed into public relocation centres so you need to consider this in your bushfire survival plan.

A document has been developed to help you include your horses in your plan.

A template is included in the Prepare Act Survive information to help you develop your own bushfire survival plan and survival kit.

What about your horse?

All too often we don't think about our animal until the day we get a call from a friend or neighbour that there is a fire. In most cases roads are locked down which means you won't be able to get home. What would you do?

You need to plan ahead and talk with your neighbours to ensure your plan will work and work when you are not there, on holidays or locked out of the area.

What to do with your horses (68KB)

You, your street and your community

How well do you know your neighbours? Why is this important?

In times of emergencies, especially if you are not around, they can make the difference as to the outcome of a fire going through your property. If you have a plan that you, your street and community fully understand, you can all help each other in times of need to come through the emergency.

Why don't you start an Emergency Ready group? What a great way to get to know your neighbours, train together, help each other be prepared for the fire and storm seasons and then help each other in times of need during the fires and storms.

Email the Shire's Emergency Management team to find out more.

Will there be a fire unit at my house when there is a fire?

No. There are not enough fire units available to put one at every house. You need to be prepared and have plans in place. Remember, 97% of the State's emergency services responders are volunteers. In the Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire it takes between 10 minutes and 45 minutes before a fire unit will be on site.

What will you do in this time? Do you have a plan? Are you prepared?

Plan now. Don't wait until it's too late.

Volunteer today

The training will assist you in understanding what you need to do and is also a great way of getting to know your community whilst contributing with pride. Experience our people and community. Click for more information on volunteering.

Do I have any firefighting equipment?

Having available firefighting equipment will allow you to help protect your home in the event of a fire. This may be a firefighting unit, knapsack sprayer or firefighting pump that connects to your water tanks in the event of a power failure. Please remember not to use plastic fittings as they melt with the radiant heat of a fire.

Other equipment that you require includes:

Mobile phone or telephone that plugs into the wall. While this may sound strange, cordless phones rely on electricity to work. In the event that the power goes out, you will not be able to use these types of phones. Please note, in some circumstances mobile phone towers get overloaded and fail
A battery-operated radio can help you keep in touch with what is going on if there is a major incident in the district and the electricity is cut off
A firefighting pump which is not dependent upon electricity. It should be kept fitted out to attach your water tanks or have a suction hose to draft from a dam. It should always be fuelled and in working order. Don't just buy it and throw it in the shed - put it together, become familiar with it and use it every month to give it a run

Remember to have hoses on your outside taps to allow either yourself or firefighters protect your property in the event of a fire.

Most emergencies occur when you are least prepared or when you are away from home.

Do I have a plan in the event of a fire?

Do all my family members know what to do in an emergency?

What do the Volunteer Fire fighters do to prepare?

The Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire, Volunteer Fire Brigades and St John Ambulance train on a weekly basis to ensure they are prepared and skilled for the fire season. The Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire provides annual training and development weekend to bring the agencies together to test their abilities and capabilities to respond.

There are continued training programs throughout the year to enhance all their skills in the varying roles to which they fulfill. This training, whilst very serious and conducted to the latest Australian National Competency standards, is done in a relaxed environment to maximise the experience. The photo to the left is the volunteers taking a well earned break whilst on a four-wheel drive course.

The volunteers undertake annual refresher training and pre-season briefings in specialised field to ensure their safety and that of the community's. One area of training is the working with aircraft and helicopters.

Watch a video of the new Carson helicopter filling up from the Oakford Nine Two collar tank at a recent training session.

Team work is key to the success of the Volunteer Emergency Services of Serpentine Jarrahdale. We conduct training sessions that enhance the skills of the volunteers to understand the importance of supporting each other and their team.

Our motto is: TEAMS - Together Everyone Achieves More Success

Volunteer Bush Fire Cadets - youth aged 11 to 16

The Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire Emergency Services department manages the largest cadet group in Western Australia. These exciting and challenging groups of youths are supervised through each of the local brigades and are actively involved within their communities. They learn fire safety skills and participate in competitions at a State and National level.

The cadet fire fighters are not front line and are actively engaged within the community undertaking fire prevention and educational activities. The Shire provides two major skill development camps per year. These camps develop the fire skills and personal growth of the youth. To join your local cadets you need to be aged 11 and above.

Volunteer Bushfire Brigades (220KB)

Who to contact to become an Emergency Services Volunteer (48KB)

Emergency Services - Expression of Interest (52KB)