Case Study: BLACK SATURDAY
The Black Saturday Bushfires occurred on the 7th of February and resulted in the loss of over 2000 houses and other properties and the loss of 173 lives. The bushfires of the 7th of February were importantly not one single large fire, it was in fact many unconnected fires which had occurred on one remarkable day of extreme fire danger which was after a prolonged drought. These fires had a massive impact on communities from rural areas, in inter-mix areas, in rural-urban interface areas and in wholly suburban situations.
Many households were not prepared for the fire. A main reason the residents were not prepared for the severity of the fire was because of the fact that they did not think the fire would affect them. Residents from suburban locations did not plan or prepare for the fires as they were not at risk as they were not in the rural areas. However they could not have realised how severe and widespread the fire would end up become. There is a significant amount of evidence that a substantial amount of last-minute planning and preparation took place on the day. This lack of planning and preparation greatly affected the resident’s ability to implement their fire plan which they believed would not be necessary.
It was found in a survey by the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission that agencies such as the CFA and local councils did not give information and warnings to all members of at-risk communities. This effected their planning and preparation for the fire as the lack of information to them meant that they had little awareness and also meant that these communities which were not warned would have been surprised by the sudden smoke of the fires and could not either defend their homes or make a decision to leave at an earlier date. This lack of information and warning to areas such as St Andrews and Kinglake had an impact on the great loss of properties and lives.
Half of the households that were represented in the survey reported that there was at least one person who wanted to stay and defend. This decision could have been greatly affected by previous fires where the 'stay and defend' strategy was seen as successful. However many residents did not have confidence in their ability to stay and defend their homes in all situations and intended to wait and see how severe the bushfires were before their decided to leave. There seemed to have been many late evacuations as the residents who were initially going to stay and defend had changed their mind as they had seen the severity of the fire and did not have the confidence to contain it. Those residents who stayed may have had impacts on their health from the great amount of smoke, such as heat exhaustion, breathing difficulties, dehydration and eye irritation. Pre- existing medical conditions such as asthma and arthritis would also have affected the people's ability to defend. Evidence also shows that many residents who decided to defend would have sheltered in their bathrooms.
In order for future fires to have a smaller impact research should be done on the underlying causes of inadequate bushfire safety preparation, identify mechanisms for increasing preparatory behaviours and improve community bushfire safety interventions. A greater amount of information and warnings should also be given to communities that are likely to be affected by bushfires. This can be done by handing out brochures, through websites or even through the TV which would be most effective. Education of fire safety preparations is extremely important as it can be the difference of the amount of loss of lives and property from a fire. By identifying the mechanisms that increase preparatory behaviours it is likely that future bushfires will have a smaller impact as more residents and households will be prepared for it. This would result in less last minute evacuations and a far smaller loss of lives and property which was the result of almost no planning and preparation for the fires. Even though bushfires cannot be prevented and are healthy for the environment, preparation and planning and improved community bushfire safety interventions are the key to reducing the impact of future bushfires.
Many households were not prepared for the fire. A main reason the residents were not prepared for the severity of the fire was because of the fact that they did not think the fire would affect them. Residents from suburban locations did not plan or prepare for the fires as they were not at risk as they were not in the rural areas. However they could not have realised how severe and widespread the fire would end up become. There is a significant amount of evidence that a substantial amount of last-minute planning and preparation took place on the day. This lack of planning and preparation greatly affected the resident’s ability to implement their fire plan which they believed would not be necessary.
It was found in a survey by the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission that agencies such as the CFA and local councils did not give information and warnings to all members of at-risk communities. This effected their planning and preparation for the fire as the lack of information to them meant that they had little awareness and also meant that these communities which were not warned would have been surprised by the sudden smoke of the fires and could not either defend their homes or make a decision to leave at an earlier date. This lack of information and warning to areas such as St Andrews and Kinglake had an impact on the great loss of properties and lives.
Half of the households that were represented in the survey reported that there was at least one person who wanted to stay and defend. This decision could have been greatly affected by previous fires where the 'stay and defend' strategy was seen as successful. However many residents did not have confidence in their ability to stay and defend their homes in all situations and intended to wait and see how severe the bushfires were before their decided to leave. There seemed to have been many late evacuations as the residents who were initially going to stay and defend had changed their mind as they had seen the severity of the fire and did not have the confidence to contain it. Those residents who stayed may have had impacts on their health from the great amount of smoke, such as heat exhaustion, breathing difficulties, dehydration and eye irritation. Pre- existing medical conditions such as asthma and arthritis would also have affected the people's ability to defend. Evidence also shows that many residents who decided to defend would have sheltered in their bathrooms.
In order for future fires to have a smaller impact research should be done on the underlying causes of inadequate bushfire safety preparation, identify mechanisms for increasing preparatory behaviours and improve community bushfire safety interventions. A greater amount of information and warnings should also be given to communities that are likely to be affected by bushfires. This can be done by handing out brochures, through websites or even through the TV which would be most effective. Education of fire safety preparations is extremely important as it can be the difference of the amount of loss of lives and property from a fire. By identifying the mechanisms that increase preparatory behaviours it is likely that future bushfires will have a smaller impact as more residents and households will be prepared for it. This would result in less last minute evacuations and a far smaller loss of lives and property which was the result of almost no planning and preparation for the fires. Even though bushfires cannot be prevented and are healthy for the environment, preparation and planning and improved community bushfire safety interventions are the key to reducing the impact of future bushfires.