Emergencies can happen quickly, often with little warning.
Planning and preparing for emergencies can help to reduce impacts and to recover more quickly.
Ways you can prepare
- Prepare your property - visit the CFA”s website for resources, checklists and planning templates
- Have a plan and a back up plan, practice it regularly and tell your friends and neighbours what it is
- Know your neighbours and check if any are vulnerable or require assistance before/during/after emergencies
- Download useful emergency apps onto your phone BEFORE emergency events and set alerts ON
- Check whether the CFA trucks can get into your properties
- Plan for your animals (pets, livestock and others)
- Join community meetings and events on preparedness and other related community initiatives/activities
- Create a phone tree with your neighbours
- Have an emergency pack ready to go - there are prompts on the CFA website https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/what-to-take-with-you
Things to consider
- There is no Neighbourhood Safer Place – Place of Last Resort in Toongabbie.
- There is limited and unreliable mobile phone coverage and the phone tower reaches capacity when overwhelmed.
- Options for emergency relief centres (ERC) at Traralgon and Sale can be limited or the centres open too late. Don’t rely on an ERC opening – include back-up options in your plan
- Gathering at the cricket pitch can cause more danger and chaos than safety – not advised by the CFA.
- It’s better to rely on the radio for emergency updates and warnings (don’t forget spare batteries in your emergency bag). The phone coverage is too unreliable to depend on accessing social media, apps or websites.
- There will likely be roadblocks and impromptu congregating at the cricket pitch and/or recreation reserve during a fire event. These are not deemed safe evacuation points. It is safest for you and more helpful for the emergency services if you leave early and avoid these situations. When leaving early, consider who you know in major towns like Traralgon or Sale who you may be able to stay with temporarily.
- If you plan to stay and defend your property, ensure you are very well prepared and have enough water - invest in water tanks prior to fire season. Refer to https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/stay-and-actively-defend for more information.
- Plan for the smallest details, like having a full tank of fuel in your car and putting personal/sentimental things in boxes or a suitcase ready to go
- Have adequate insurance for your property and assets, use the cover straightaway to maximise the benefits. For information on bushfire insurance, visit: https://www.disasterlegalhelp.org.au/
- Get to know your rights and responsibilities of being a rural land owner, particularly with regards to fire prevention works and land clearing, such as the 10-30/10-50 rule. Contact Council on 1300 367 700 for more information about what you can, can’t and what you’re obliged to do to play your part in fire prevention and community preparedness.
- Don’t underestimate the likelihood or impact of flooding, especially following fires. ‘The destruction of the flash floods was much worse than the fires, in the fact that it will take longer and more intense workloads to clean up’
Horses and Bushfire
Things to consider:
- Clean sticks and leaf litter build up around stables and paddocks
- Designate a fire safety paddock that is large, open and well grazed
- Have troughs full and extra water available if power/pumps or pipes fail
- Register your property with Agriculture Victoria: www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/farm-management/property-identification-codes
- Get in touch with the Riders Club or Pony Club. Get to know other local horse owners and think about ways you can support each other in preparing your paddocks/stables/emergency kits for fire season.
Prepare a horse emergency kit with items such as:
- Pocket knife
- Wire cutters
- Torch
- Halter & lead rope
- Roll cotton
- Bandages
- Scissors
- Bucket
- 2 – 3 days feed
- Drinking water
- Yellow Lotion
- White Healer Cream
- Vet contact details
Are your horses:
- Staying at home? Remove rugs/halters/fly veils
- Going next door? Write your phone number on hooves and horses’ rump
- Leaving with you? Think about where you’ll take them (race track/ sale yard/ showground) and make sure water is available there.
For more information, visit: www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/horses-and-bushfires
Community Based Bushfire Management
Community Based Bushfire Management (CBBM) is one of the projects under the State-wide, Victorian Government funded Safer Together project. It adopts a community development approach in reducing bushfire risk through using community knowledge, values, skills, resources and strengths. It promotes the community being at the centre of decision making and working in equal partnership with different agencies as together we aim towards safer and more resilient communities.
For more information head to the website: https://www.communitybushfireconnection.com.au/community/toongabbie/
Stay Informed
The CFA website has a list of Information Services on the website https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/information-services
Ensure you have the Vic Emergency app downloaded and know the local radio stations such as ABC Gippsland (Latrobe Valley 100.7 FM).
Do not rely on social media channels such as the local toongabbie.vic.au or Toongabbie Fire Brigade during emergencies.
