limited rainfall has produce con

limited rainfall has produce conditions of very high fire danger in many Australian states, but here in Victoria couple that with the stupidity of our government and we are sitting with a time bomb of which has already shown its fury, only thanks to the fire fighters, volunteers and mother nature sending some rain have we seen some hope.

For some reason we can’t rely on the knowledge of ‘men on the land’ they would have seen well before to clearance, burn offs and general common sense control of our land and forests, instead we are left to the mercy of having enough burnable fuel surrounding us to see Victoria blaze on.

plan a head for fire safety

Clean up! every corner… remove all rubbish, under growth, slash paddocks, remove flammable objects, make sure you give your house and stock a fighting chance by having a sizable area around that has nothing to encourage the fire to spread. Now with some local councils they have there own rules that are right up there on the stupidity menu – so make sure you see were you stand before removing trees, scrub… however I wait to see the day we as citizens take control of our rights and our right to protect our farms, family and stock, and politely tell them were one may stick their regulations.

your decision

The CFA emphasises that bush fire protection strategies include forward planning. You are responsible for developing a survival plan for your family, dogs and horses, the decision to leave or stay is in your hands. If you have decided to stay before hand you should have assessed your risk from a fire and how safe your property would be if a fire occurred in the immediate area. If you decide to leave, you have to do it in advance of knowing there is fire in your area. The announcement of a Total Fire Ban should be the trigger for your decision. Late evacuation can be deadly and a strain on the fire fighters and police.

plan ahead

Evacuation: removing horses to a safer area must be well thought out in advance, arrangements made for the relocation of your horses; seek out information well before hand, a quick call the CFA asking for the recommendations is a good start, you can look at showgrounds, racetracks, pony club grounds, make up your own fire action group of other horse minded people in other towns and suburbs that could perhaps provide safe havens.

Getting them out: there is no use the day of evacuation seeing if ‘neddy’ is going to load, if you are in a high risk area then all your stock must be able to load if you have planned to evacuate. Foals by the time our summer season comes should all be at a stage were they accept halters, lead on at command.

Staying: if evacuation is not a option you should have a designated ‘safe area’ during the summer months or rather well before, the top end of our property is kept to lawn height, all paddocks lead into the sand arena, lots of sweat goes into keeping this area clean of burnable fuel, after speaking with a fire chief in our area the sand arena was given the nod to the safest place for all horses. Your safe area should have access to water, a dam is great but concrete water tanks do as long as you can get your own fire pump hose into them.

make sure your accessories include if you are staying:

leather halters and cotton leads

horses & humans first aid kits

ladder suitable for reaching the roofs of all buildings

fire pump + hoses

wire/fencing cutters

steel buckets filled with water

torches

mobile phone

battery radio

shovels, rakes, axe

old fashion mops for smouldering embers

wool blankets, towels

and of course sensible clothing, gloves and work boots

On bad days: on the days of total fire bans, preferably the night before bring all stock up to the safe well grazed paddocks, remove all rugs, halters, fly veils, in a place easy to get at hang up one halter with lead rope attached per horse. A point to keep in mind here is go for leather halters and cotton leads.

Reduce it: well before the fire season, but okay this year mother nature snuck up early so some maybe a little behind but there is no reason not to get stuck into it now. Remove all excess grass, scrub, sticks, dried leafs any burnable fuel around buildings – the larger the area better I like to see everything cleared away for up to 100 meters [this will depend on any council restrictions of course].

With having stables comes our own hazards, remove hay, shavings, chemicals, fuel safely away from your stables. As well as cleaning your house gutters make sure the stables are leaf free as well. Plan well before which paddocks are going to be used as sacrifice paddocks – graze, slash them down to the bare, make sure all lane ways that lead to these paddocks are clear as well.

Get through this year and during the winter months make a dedicted effort to really get stuck into your property, making it a safe haven for you and your animals ... and even our little fury friends that live in the wild.