Here in NSW we are facing an unprecedented level of Bushfire danger. A Total Fire Ban has been instituted for the entire state, a State of Emergency has been declared and some parts of the state have a danger rating of ‘catastrophic’ – a rating that has never needed to be used before!
Living on a fairly remote farm that backs onto a huge state forest, our family has been very concerned. So much so that we have instituted our own emergency fire plan should worst come to worst.
There are plenty of official sites that can guide you through how to come up with your own emergency plans, and I heartily encourage every reader to visit the sites relevant to their state as well as download the relevant apps. What I’m going to share here is some of the evacuation precautions I and my family have taken, in the hopes it may provide you with some ideas of your own. In particular – our emergency bags.
We have several emergency bags packed. The whole idea of these is that they are pre-made and ready to go, saving valuable minutes if you need to get out fast. Our emergency bags are packed with such items that can stay in them forever – not items that we will have to remove a few days later because we need them. Hopefully these bags will hang on hooks for the rest of their lives unused, but better safe than sorry.
Clothing for the day
Despite the heat, long clothing is essential. Should you end up in an area with sparks flying through the air, you don’t want those sparks touching your bare skin. So long sleeved tops and long pants are the order of the day and they should be natural fibres like cotton, not synthetics that have the potential to melt onto your skin.
Leather boots are also the most preferable footwear to have. In our case my wife and I own heavy duty leather boots but our children don’t, so we would put them in their most suitable footwear and carry them if required.
We have a bag packed specifically with clothing to change into at a moment’s notice. Again, every minute you can save counts.
Evac Clothing Bag
Chances are you might not be able to return to your home for a couple of days until the fire has passed. So you will need a few changes of clothes, but taking into account you should not over pack as space in your vehicle will be at a premium.
For each member of our family we packed the following:
*2 T-shirts
*1 Jumper
*1 pair of Long Pants
*1 pair of Shorts
*2 pairs of Socks
*2 pairs of Underwear
*1 pair of Pyjamas
Equipment Bag
There will be specific equipment that you may need when fleeing from a bushfire. All this should be kept together and easy to access if needed.
In ours we have:
*One torch with fresh battery
*One small fire blanket
*One first aid kit
*One tube of burn cream
*One pack of face masks
*One pair of fire resistant gloves
*One battery powered radio
Pet Bag
If you have pets you naturally are going to want to take them with you. In our case because we have two pet goats this would entail hooking up the trailer. But for most people your pets may consist of a dog and cat (which we also have). So when packing make sure you have enough pet food for a couple of days and leads for every animal – you don’t want to escape the fire just for your cat to run away or your dog to go hungry. A dish to put water in is also advisable.
Food & Water
Chances are wherever you evacuate to will have food and water available. But again that motto – better safe than sorry. Have a bag packed full of food that does not need to be refrigerated and can keep you all going for a day or two. Pre-packaged food like muesli bars and biscuits will serve you well, as well as bags of nuts. Also tinned food such as ham, salmon, tuna and so on. Take as much water as you can reasonably fit. Because we would be taking a ute we can afford to take a 25 litre container in the back.
Misc Items
These are items that you don’t need to survive but will be incredibly hard to replace should you lose your home. This includes forms such as birth certificates and passports, as well as more personal items such as jewellery and family photos. What you pack in this bag is up to you, but one of the bags you may need to give the most thought too. Also, because these are items that you can’t store in an evac kit permanently, make sure you know the location of these items in your house so they can be collected up quickly.
So these are just a few different suggestions for what to take if you need to evacuate and a possible way to have them prepared. Again, I encourage everyone to check out the official sites in order to get even more guidance and information about the best way to go about this, but hopefully this blog will give you a good starting point on advisable things to pack.
Got any other tips on what to pack in case of Bushfire? Pop it in the comments section below.