A recent survey revealed that a large number of people in Victoria were ignoring the fire safety warnings issued by the authorities. The reports compiled by Country Fire Authority (CFA), Emergency Services Commissioner (ESC) and RMIT University, showed that almost half of the people in the state’s highest fire risk areas would not leave their home on a catastrophic, or code red, fire danger day. Many of the residents quizzed in the survey were interested to stay and defend their properties despite the leave early warning given by the authorities. The reports further show that only 15 percent of the people had changed their bushfire survival plan. About 25 percent people would stay in their homes on code red days and only leave if they saw fire. About 78 percent of people surveyed who stayed to defend their homes on Black Saturday told that they would do it again.

In Queensland the newly introduced Emergency Alert fire warning system through land phones and mobile phones have created a lot a trouble and panic among tourists and non residents. The warning system sends text messages to mobile phones and voice messages to land phones according to the billing address of the subscriber. The system at present can not send any warning messages to tourists and non residents who normally don’t have any billing address in the area where they are travelling through.      Acting Premier Paul Lucas, said that the Emergency Alert is an additional warning system and did not replace “tried and true methods” of listening to radio and TV announcements. “It would be far more satisfactory to be working for anyone on a mobile phone in that area,” he requested. The Queensland attracts a lot of tourists and as such an effective solution is needed to counter this trouble.

The weather conditions in Victoria are threatening the public and the fire authorities to prepare for the difficult period. About 30000 fire fighters are there in Victoria who see the conditions as great challenge. At the same time threat from Arsonists is another concern that also needs to be dealt with. The police have arrested two suspected arsonists in Melbourne last Friday. They requested an appeal to the people to watch any suspected behavior.

“Conditions are varying in parts of the state from very high to severe to extreme, and Monday will be a challenging day, “said Bruce Esplin,Emergency Services Commissioner,Victoria.Since the first anniversary of the last Black Saturday is just a few weeks ahead, people are more nervous and concerned these days.”It’ll be a challenge for all Victorians because it’s the worst period since Black Saturday,” he said.

The Country Fire Services (CFS) has launched RSS feed services in their website to increase the availability and functionality of bushfire information.

“Alerting the public to potential bushfire risks the day before, and of actual fire threats once a fire has started, is critical to give residents the information they need to take the appropriate action to PREPARE. ACT. SURVIVE.” said Mr.Euan Ferguson, Chief Officer, and Country Fire Services. At present the CFS places total fire ban and fire danger rating information in their website www.cfs.sa.gov.au which the visitors can look.

“Now we have the added benefit of RSS feeds which basically pushes information out to subscribers who can access it more readily on their mobile phones or computers at a frequency which suits their needs.  Mr. Ferguson said. To receive RSS feeds you need a feed reader and must subscribe to CFS feeds from the website.

Currently two RSS feeds are active; one contains all active current fire warnings with links to each individual warning message. The second contains all current non-metropolitan incidents and a direct link to the incidents summary page.

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.