As the days get warmer and dryer, the possibility of bushfires looms once again in the minds of many Australians. In fact, with changing weather conditions, there is a need for homeowners to have an ongoing fire and storm protection plan operating permanently.
It is also important that anyone building or renovating a home on the urban fringe or in rural and regional areas take more extreme weather into account.
The following bushfire safety design principles and management solutions can be easily incorporated into a new home or renovation:
- Build on flat ground on a concrete slab. If you do build on a slope, fit the house into the slope rather than have it supported on poles.
- Make sure you build in a location where there is a fuel break around the home. Keep grass cut short close to the home and remove fallen limbs, and branches that would provide fire fuel.
- Plant trees and shrubs away from the home.
- Keep the exterior design of the house simple and avoid crevices or cracks where burning material can lodge.
- Fit vents in walls, under floor and eaves with spark proof metal plates that can be easily fixed in place during a bushfire emergency.
- Consider installing fire screens to go over windows to prevent the glass from cracking in radiant heat.
- Avoid decorative timberwork such as trellis, and lattice-work on exposed areas of the building. Remember timber balconies and decks are also high danger areas for trapping burning debris and should be kept to a minimum.
- Make sure you have any chimneys screened off to stop embers blowing down the chimney during the fire and entering the home. When designing the home, ensure the use of leafless guttering or if allowed by council install ground level rubble drain collectors.
- Do not store firewood against or under the home.
- Make sure all doors have close fitting screens.
- Clear all debris from gutters and decks.
- Have a fire emergency plan - check with local fire brigade.
- Consider access to adequate water supplies, such as tanks, dams, swimming pools or water reserves. Install a sprinkler system around your home connected to these water reserves.
If you own a property, holiday house, caravan or shack in a bushfire risk area, or if you are planning holidays in rural or remote areas, remember that you will need to be prepared there as well.