Tasmania Fire Service

Video

Homes burn in bushfires for one of the following reasons: 1.     Flames and radiant heat from burning vegetation and other bushfire fuels too close to the home cause it to catch fire. Homes exposed to too much flames and radiant heat begin burning as the bushfire passes by. Homes with too much vegetation close to them are difficult to protect from bushfires. 2.     Burning embers collect on combustible surfaces or blow through cracks in a home's external cladding. Embers begin falling before the fire reaches the home, and may continue falling for several hours after the fire has passed. Often homes only exposed to this 'ember attack' don't burn down until several hours after the fire has passed. If residents are there, homes can be defended successfully. Well-prepared homes that are only subjected to ember attack can be defended by able-bodied people in most bushfires. Unattended homes are three times more likely to burn down than homes that are actively defended. Tasmania Fire Service recommends that you should not plan to defend your home when the fire danger rating exceeds 50 (severe) unless you have created a defendable space and ember-proofed your home. Unless your home has a defendable space and has been designed and built specifically to withstand a bushfire, you should not plan to defend it if the fire danger rating exceeds 75 (extreme).   Tasmania Fire Service recommends that you should not plan to defend your home on days when the fire danger rating exceeds 100 (catastrophic), unless firefighters have assessed it on the day that a fire is threatening and have advised you that it is defendable. This recognises that even on days with catastrophic fire danger ratings, some homes, because of their circumstances, are defendable. For example, a farmhouse surrounded by several hectares of planted vegetables, ploughed fields or heavily-grazed paddocks is likely to be defendable, particularly if it has been well-constructed and ember-proofed.