The TV Bushfire Ads Airing on Commercial TV

I’ve just had the pleasure (not) of watching the new Bushfire Ads, I rarely watch live to air TV for exactly this reason, to avoid media, to avoid news stories, this has become obvious after the Victorian Black Saturday  Bushfires.

I visually saw about 5-10sec and realised it was smoke, I could hear people panicking and then I realised it was one of the bushfire ads, that I have been reading about, in places like this http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2011/11/30/3380039.htm

I lost the plot.

I can smell smoke, my skin is crawling, the sounds, the memories, just because some people will always be dumb, do the rest of society have to suffer?

Remove the ads and save the sanity of those connected to the 173 people that died and the 1000’s that escaped with prior knowledge or by the skin of their teeth.

PULL the ADS before the inevitable occurs and someone is pushed over the edge.

The doors are closed, the horse has bolted and a bushfire approaches.

Scenario One:- Shit, there are flames on the horizon, the power’s gone out, I can’t find the instructions for the manual override on the garage doors, WTF do I do now?

Scenario Two:- The fire’s here, you’re holding the garden hose, suddenly the water stops flowing. Who turned the tap off?

Scenario Three:- You’re watching TV and the air conditioner is on. Suddenly the power goes gone out. You go outside and see the flames. The street is deserted. Where is everyone?

Scenario Four:- The flames are here, the petrol pump is working, the fire hose is pumping. Suddenly the pump cuts out. The car’s packed, but it’s in the garage with the electric roller doors closed tightly.

In all the above scenarios it’s too late to run, it’s too late to hide… What are you going to do?

Solution One:- Put the car OUTSIDE the garage BEFORE the fire approaches, better still leave and go somewhere safe, if you are worried or have a family.

Solution Two:- Don’t rely on town water supply, as the fire trucks hook in and everyone else tries to defend their property, pressure WILL drop. Make sure you have tank back-up with a fire pump and worst-case scenario WITH a riser (gravity fed water) OR get out EARLY.

Solution three:- DO NOT close yourself in high fire risk days, keep in touch with friends and neighbours, make sure you are tuned to the local TALKBACK radio station and listen, look, and live. If you don’t feel capable of defending, GET OUT.

Solution four:- WTF were you thinking? You can’t decide to defend your property and then decide to leave when the bushfire gets too close for comfort. Make a decision and make it early, or die on the road as the road is invisible once the smoke descends.

In all seriousness, listen, look, be prepared and don’t be a last minute louey. Fire warnings are often issued the night before, if not days ahead of time. LISTEN and perhaps save yourself from any of the above situations.

Take care in 2011-2012 bushfire season

Why not take part in the CFA Online Bushfire Information sessions – the next is the 27^th November http://www.cfaconnect.net.au/news/online-bushfire-info-sessions-begin-2.html

Don’t be shy, don’t be stupid, take part and possibly save YOUR life!

What to do if flooded out (or about to be) and the Return AFTER Flooding

I don’t write this post with humour, but sometimes you have to laugh even when you feel like crying.

I’ll put it in point form to try and make it easier to read, I know you are probably under stress.

1. Leave early, if you THINK you’ll be flooded out, or cut off. Don’t wait until the last minute when you may risk you and your familys’ lives

2. Take your cats and dogs with you. If you can’t, make sure they are wearing collars and ID’d to a mobile (not the house phone, you won’t be there)

3. If your animals are larger, a collar OR spray paint a mobile number on their hide. If your horses are wearing rugs, remove them, rugs impede the animals ability to swim and may get hooked up on fences.

4. Turn off gas, power and water

5. Block any sinks with the plug and then weigh down with a sandbag or something similar, this MIGHT stop sewerage coming back through the drains. (Including bathroom floor drains) Include toilet bowls in this also.

6. Take your phone and laptop chargers with you, you’d be surprised at the number of people who forget.

7. Take important documents and photos with you. Things like passports and family photos.

8. Take enough clothes and necessities to last a minimum of 7 days. everything from baby formula to knickers and shoes.

9. If you have room, take you computer Hard drive, leave the screen and keyboard, just the tower, if you haven’t backed anything up.

10. DO NOT cross bridges/causeways unless you know they are stable and the flow of water won’t impede your crossing

11. Notify family and friends when you are leaving, where you are going and what time you are to be expected (allow 1hr leeway) just in case. Call them when you arrive.

12. Make sure you take any medicine you may require

13. It might be some time before you can get back, empty the fridge and freezer, take the food with you OR give it to a neighbour who IS staying. Things gets very smelly with no electricity. Leave the doors open to stop smells and also if the house is flooded, will stop the fridge/freezer becoming a floating hazard outside the house.

13. If you are staying. A fridge only needs to be run from a generator 1 hour in every 4 hours. That’s enough to keep things below room temp and keep things longer.

14. DO NOT charge phones or laptops from a generator, fine electrical items like that, do not like the unstable charge of a generator.

15. A generator chews through fuel, so use as though you may not get fuel for a long time.

16. Use gas where possible for cooking or a BBQ for heating water etc. Water and electricity DO NOT Mix.

17. Boil your water as a precaution, once the water level is more than 1-2 inches deep. JUST in case sewerage has somehow managed to get into the water supply.

18. DO NOT let children play in the flood water, firstly you don’t know what’s dead upstream and secondly there may be a current you are not aware of. This also applies to adults, stay out of the water. The flood water may also contain raw sewerage from flooded septic tanks from council treatment plants.

19. Let the Red Cross know your movements, you are staying, you are going, the number of people ‘lost’ during the bushfires was a critical factor in the number of people initially reported as missing.

20. If you have reported someone missing and the located them, please inform the Red Cross and keep informing them until you see their name removed from lists. During bushfires this caused much distress amongst separated family and friends.

21. Emergency services MAY NOT be able to get to you IF you decide to stay, keep that in mind when making ANY decisions. It may mean no food OR fuel. Keep that in mind.

22. Don't forget you will need batteries and candles for when the power does goes out and also for radios to listen to what is going on in your local area. Whilst you have power charge your mobile and laptops etc, iPods for the kids. Usual routine, Expect the power to go out WITHOUT notice.

23. Solar Panels don't require electricity to work (that's their purpose) Therefore the panels and surrounding cables will be LIVE and could injury to yourself or even death. AVOID at all costs.

24. An old style phone (not requiring 240v) may also be beneficial, sometimes landlines are still working even when the power has gone out. Check your house wiring before assuming this is the case though

25. Check you neighbours, maybe they are elderly and too afraid to ask for help. Offer or do, or if needed bully them out with you. Sometimes you HAVE to do this. The guilt is not worth it after the fact.

26. Upon returning to your premises, assume the house is 'live' with electricity. DO NOT PLUG anything in, UNLESS the wiring has been checked by an electrician and given the all clear.

There may be other articles in this blog that may apply to your current position, Here is one regarding about managing without electricity. Residential Properties Having been through the bushfires, electricity seems so important that the time. You soon realise that not having electricity is not really that important after all. Once you know how to manage!

The Red Cross have published a PDF document that will assist in the cleaning up of flooded properties Cleaning up after Flooding - PDF

And for the geeks of the world, ben-geek has offered this advice Tips for Salvaging Flooded Computer Gear

If you would like to make a donation, 3AW in Melbourne have listed 5 different ways you can help 3AW - Donations Make sure any donations that you do make, are through official channels and that the money will go where intended.

Please take care out there, flooding is just as dangerous as fire.
#QLDFloods
#NSWFloods
#VicFloods

Are you prepared to stay and defend or do you need to leave on “CODE RED” Days

Ask yourself these questions:-
1. Are you physically fit?
2. Are you mentally able to cope with the noise and possible devastation?
3. If you have children, do you have someone outside the area who can look after them?
4. Is your block surrounded by cleared lands?
5. Is your house roof clear of overhanging trees and branches?
6. Are you able to get onto the roof and block the gutters?
7. Is your house built on relatively flat land?
8. Is your house on a slab OR stumps? If stumps,is underneath of your house clear?


These are SOME of the things you MUST consider, There are many other factors to determine if you go or stay. It is not for me to determine your choice. Only YOU can make that choice.

If you answered Yes to the above Questions – then it is possible you have a better chance of saving your property.

If at any time in the past you have suffered from asthma or a heart condition, I believe you have to leave. I can’t stress this enough. The air is thick with smoke and flying embers, the heat is unbearable.

Here is a re-cap of all my posts over the last couple of weeks, from what to do and what not to do.
Things not to do when a bushfire is approaching
You can feel a sense of de-ja vu in the air
Things NOT to do when confronted by a bushfire
The Fire Season and the Procrastinator

Things to do months, weeks, years ahead of an approaching bushfire
Are YOU prepared for a bushfire?
Be Prepared or Prepare to Die
The threat of bushfires, your family and particularly home alone children
Children in the care of others, during CODE RED bushfire danger days (Victoria, Australia)
CODE RED affected schools (Victoria, Australia)
Fire bunkers – are they safe?
Caught in Car During a Bushfire
Animals and Bushfires

If you don’t feel able to stay and defend, leave, tell your neighbours, take your valuables with you, take your animals with you.

If you have water, let the local CFA know that you have water, if you are able – sign post that water, so the CFA are able to locate it. Don’t be selfish, it could be your house they are trying to save.

Take care and remember that the fire season of 2008/09 cost the lives of many and taught those that survived how to make survival a little easier.

Do not let their lives be in vain. Remember life is precious and family more so.

Take care out there

Survivors Guilt

You survive, you still wonder how. So many people you know did not survive. You saved your house, so many others couldn’t.

You are embarrassed, you are ashamed.

You are suffering survivors guilt.

You avoid the main roads, you avoid public meetings. You avoid the life that you once knew.

It is all too hard. You want to know why you have been saved and so many have not.

You have passed your years, you have done your time. Why were the children taken so early, they had not lived their life, they had not seen life.

It is not fair.

You help where you can, but wonder if your help is not wanted, due to the fact you have lost nothing and they have lost all.

What do you do? What can you do? Will the place you have known for 40 years ever be the same again?

Will you ever be able to shop in your home town again?

Will you ever be able to buy petrol in your home town again?

Will those that left to find a roof ever come back again?

There are so many questions and so few answers.

Nobody is prepared to give answers, nobody is prepared to step up and be accountable.

Can you survive the guilt?

Flash Back of the Worst Kind

Went back to the place I grew up in (I can’t call it home as I have my own family now, with my own home). This is the same place that was burnt out by Black Saturday fires in February and I made a mad pre-dawn dash, running road blocks and upsetting several ‘official’ people

It’s amazing what the smallest thing can cause you to recall at the strangest times.

The morning of the fires, I came around this corner, there was an almighty tree across the road, obviously the smoke and fire that goes with being in the middle of a catastrophic event like Black Saturday.

I turned the same corner today and saw the stumps of the trees and was thinking about that horrible morning. When all of a sudden a light dust cloud swept across the road, accompanied by the smell of smoke. I almost panicked.

The only thing that stopped me slamming on the brakes was that my partner was riding shotgun, whereas before I was alone.

The dust was from the cleared ground due to fire cleaning up and the smoke was due to a fire that had been lit to burn off the tree stumps and rubbish that had been graded into a pile.

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like for someone who has lost family in Black Saturday. How do they cope on a daily basis?

I was lucky - only lost friends, not family. I couldn't imagine