All people who live in a high bushfire risk area need to develop a Bushfire Action Plan. A Bushfire Action Plan is a well thought out plan about how you will prepare and respond to a fire in your area.

A plan should include a set of actions to address the risk and will require you to make a series of decisions about what you will do on a high fire risk day, or should a fire threaten your home.

People should develop a written plan that identifies all the actions they will undertake on high fire risk days. You are more likely to remember to do some of the things you have identified as being important if you write them down.

To develop your plan you need to consider all the issues about your level of risk, actions you will undertake to prepare yourself and your home for bushfire and what you will do on high fire risk days.

Even if your decision is to leave the area before fire threatens, you still need a well thought out plan.

Everyone’s circumstances are different so it is important that you develop a plan that suits your household.

Make sure all members of your household know what the plan is and know what roles and responsibilities they have. And as circumstances change, it is important that you review your Bushfire Action Plan before each summer fire season.

The first decision must be what trigger you will use to implement your plan. Ask yourself “On which days should I be ready to implement my plan?”

People should implement their plan each high fire risk days when temperatures rise, the humidity is low and there are strong winds predicted.

You should decide well before summer whether you intend to leave your home on high fire risk days or stay and defend your property should a fire threaten your area.

Your first decision is go or stay – will you:

• Stay and actively defend, or
• go early

If your decision is to go early, your plan needs to include:

• When you will leave
• Where you will go
• How you will get there
• What you will take with you
• What you will do with your pets
• Who you have told about your plan

If your decision is to stay and defend your property, your plan needs to include:

• Where you and other family members will be
• What you will do if your children are at school when the fire starts
• Who will look after your pets
• What you will do if you have elderly relatives or young children living with you
• How you will protect your property
• How you will protect yourself
• How you will know what is going on during the fire
• What you will do to patrol your property after the fire front has passed through

A well thought out bushfire plan should address all these issues. Make sure everyone in the household knows the plan and what their roles are. And remember: stick to your plan!