The Country Fire Authority has reported on Monday Dec 28^th, a small slow moving bushfire near the town Ruffy, about 175 kilometers north of Melbourne. The fire approximately seven hectares in size is slow moving towards northern sides. The residents in the nearby towns of Upton Hill, Creighton, Creightons Creek, Euroa, Gooram, Locksley, Ruffy, and Longwood have been advised to get ready with the bushfire survival plan. The bushfire is currently creating spot fires ahead in a northern direction. Tourists are advised to stay away from the listed twons.Those without a survival plan have been advised to leave the area early if the path to do so is safe.

The people with hearing disabilities are deprived the benefit of the new telephone based fire warning system called emergency alert. Under the new system being introduced, text and voice messages are sent to the mobile phones and land phones in case there is any danger of a bushfire. Many people have hearing disabilities and as such when the telephone rings for an emergency voice call those depending on text telephone services (TTY) or other forms of communication and aids are unable to use the new system because it does not support the features at present.

“As it stands the system has put people with disabilities lives at risk,” said Dean Barton-Smith, a spokesman of the Australian Federation of Disability Organizations.

It was not technically feasible to include TTY in the present emergency alert system. Another problem is that when text messages are sent through mobile phones, elders who have difficulty in reading text messages also face an equal situation when an emergency warning is made. A spokesman of the Deafness Forum Australia commented that every Australian has the right to b warned of these types of emergencies, it should be a warning system for everyone.

During a recent hearing, the lawyers assisting the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission proposed a safety rating for buildings in bushfire prone areas. The scheme would be in the model of star rating scheme for homes according to their energy efficiency, said Melinda Richards, counsel assisting the commission. The scheme would encourage the building compliance requirements in bushfire prone areas, not just at the time of building a house, but for subsequent users also.

Though the recommendations look quite good, both Victorian government and the local councils opposed the idea indicating that such a scheme would be against the provisions of the Building Act-1993. Kerri Judd SC the counsel representing the Victorian government argued that such a scheme would make a dangerous false sense of security. If a high rating has been given to a building it may compel the families to defend the property, but however there is greater risk involved in doing such an effort.

The protection of people from a bushfire is a shared responsibility of the fire fighting agencies, community groups, emergency services and the government. The community has an important role in this respect to protect the members and to take necessary action to prepare for a bushfire survival plan. The authorities of Country Fire Authority(CFA) assess certain places as Neighborhood Safer Places as places of last resort for giving shelters to general public in case of a sudden bushfire. In this respect the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission in its interim report suggested three options namely,

• Community Fire Refuges.
• Neighborhood Safer Places.
• Privately Identified Safer Places.

The Commission noted that safer places may increase a person’s  chance of survival, but still entail some risk, both in moving to them during a fire and while sheltering in them.  They cannot be considered, nor should they be described as, ‘safe’.”

When fire surrounds the intensity of heat waves can travel very long distances and this result in radiant heat. It travels in straight lines radiating around from the source fire. The intensity or the magnitude of destruction of the radiant heat depends on the weather and wind speed of the day when the fire starts. During hot weather and high winds, the radiant heat can destroy maximum number of living and non living things.

The Effect of Radiant Heat on Humans:

• The human body can bear only the normal atmospheric temperature. Any increase in the atmospheric temperature adversely affects the human body. The temperature of radiant heat may reach thousands of degrees; the effect of this on humans can not be even spoken.
• Dehydration is quick on exposure to distant radiant heat.
• If travelling, there is greater risk of radiant heat from a distant fire.
• It can lead to asphyxiation and heart failure

Survival Measures during Radiant Heat:

• Solid objects like soil, concrete walls and buildings block radiant heat.
• The best way to escape from radiant heat is to keep as much as distance as possible away from it.
• The body may be covered with cotton or woolen clothes to reduce the intensity.
• Woolen socks, leather boots and leather hand gloves help to protect other body parts.
• To protect eyes, smoke goggles may be used.

Regular lighting by electric power is not ideal for a fire bunker. During an extreme fire it is unlikely that there would be power supply as normal. If doing electrical work for use in non fire times, the cabling and other electrical works should be done by a qualified person. All materials used for such work should be suited for underground use. During a fire the cables may caught fire which can produce poisonous smoke inside a bunker. Therefore the best reliance is on other lighting sources that do not require cabling and power supply.

Lighting Choices while Using Fire Bunkers:

• Torches are the best reliable lighting source inside a fire bunker. A wind-up torch that does not require batteries may be more useful.
• Using solar powered 12 volts lighting is good but the cabling should not cause short circuit.
• A cheap alternative for outside lighting is a line of solar lights leading to the bunker. This is helpful to locate the bunker during night.