People often seek absolute guarantees about bushfire. There are none,except that if you are not there when a bushfire comes you won't be harmed by it. If you are caught in the middle of one,there is a risk you will be killed. Every other course of action,no matter how well planned,carries a greater or lesser degree of risk. That was the harsh lesson of Black Saturday.
This simple reality underpins the fundamental message in Victorian over recent summers,that leaving high-risk areas early on days of severe fire danger and above will always be your safest option. That does not mean that your responsibility ends there. If your plan is to leave on days of high fire danger,there is much you can do to prepare your property to help ensure it is still there when you come home. If you plan to stay,there is much more to do. The fire agencies have a wealth of detailed information,available both online and in printed form. Your local brigade can help with advice too.
Victorians are still learning to live with bushfire more than 180 years after European settlement. Most people will never experience a fire first hand. Yet increasingly,those who have not grown up with fire are moving into areas on the edges of our cities and towns and even deeper into the bush where bushfire is a threat every year.
Our community is still learning that deliberately putting fire into the landscape,even with the best of motives,can have unintended consequences.
There has probably been more early uncontrolled fire in the Victorian landscape this year than in any previous year,certainly within memory. In the rush to apportion blame,let's not forget the intent of these burns – to reduce the risk of uncontrollable fire in the landscape.
A number of burn-offs escaped – from both private and public land – leading to property losses and significant community impacts. Whether it be a property owner trying to minimise the risk on their own property or the fire and land management agencies trying to achieve this in the public estate,the intentions are good.