HAZARD REDUCTION PROGRAM

Photo: NSW Rural Fire Service at a prescribed burn in Wedderburn

Information for reserve neighbours

What are we doing to reduce the risk of bushfire?What can you do?

We can’t rely on our previous luck.

No major fires have occurred in our reserves in recent years, but fire is apart of life in Australia, so we need to be prepared when it happens.

We know how to keep our community safe.

Despite the intense fires that occur frequently in the Greater Sydney region, very few houses and lives are lost - we aim to keep it that way.

Recent local wildfires, such as in Ingleburn in 2012 and Simmos BeachReserve and Long Point in 2011, remind us of the need to prepare.Fortunately, knowledge and experience of bushfires and how houses burn show us what has to be done.

Managing risk in the bush

Four main strategies are used in the hazard reduction program

Why do we have a hazard reduction program?

Prescribed burningTo manage fuel and keep the bush healthy.

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Asset Protection Zones (APZs)Fuel reduced areas on bushland edges.

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Asset Protection Zone, Bunbury Curran Park.

Roadside slashingTo reduce the spread of bushfires.

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Firefigther lighting a prescribed burn within Smiths Creek Reserve

Roadside slashing in Wedderburn

Fire Trail maintenanceTo provide safe access forfirefighters in the event of a bushfire.

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Fire Trail, St Helens Park

It’s about protecting our communitieswhile preserving our environment!

A lot to look after. Council manages 920 hectares of bushland.

This includes 70 hectares of boundary adjoining more than 6500 houses. With an average of 2.95 people per house, there are about 19,000 people adjacent to or near bushland. This program is about their safety and protection.

Firefighters can’t be everywhere.

Our emergency services are well organised and resourced, but in a major fire there won’t be enough fire trucks to have one protecting every house. So we need to prepare our bushland, and residents need to prepare theirproperties. Fire patterns have changed.

In recent decades, due to more frequent and severe droughts, and human factors such as arson, fires have become more frequent and less predictable

Why do we have a hazard reduction program?

Bushland is a valuable asset of great scientific importance, and home to the many plants andanimals that add colour and interest to our lives. Many Aboriginal and European heritage sites and artefacts also survive in our bushland reserves.

How can we protect all this for future generations and still manage hazard reduction?

Extensive field work and research to identify natural and cultural heritage features.

Designing APZs specifically for each site to avoid disturbing significant features,such as habitat trees.

Using skill and strategy to get the best effect from minimal clearing.

Employing only trained and experienced staff.

Maintaining weeding of vulnerable areas to stop weed colonisation.

Threatened species

There are 22 threatened plant species and seven endangered ecological communities within the LGA. Forty one threatened animal species live in or visit our local bush. These are all heading for extinction unless more is done to protect them and their habitat. We have legal obligations to ensure our hazard reduction work does not harm them unnecessarily.

A threatened species on site doesn’t prevent burning. As part of the Sydney bush, most threatened plants adapt to fire, so “protecting” them from fire would be unnatural. But we need to take special care to burn them at the right intensity and frequency.

Protecting our heritage

Council reserve Neighbouring

property

A typical urban/bushland boundary with Asset Protection Zone

Bushland Zone Asset Protection Zone

APZ Outer Protection Area APZ Inner Protection Area

Asset Protection ZonesAll bushland/urban boundaries require an assetprotection zone of some kind. The appropriate width varies from a few metres to 40 metres from the building, depending on the site conditions. Most APZs in urban bushland are 10-20 metres.

As part of our ongoing hazard reduction program, special projects will take place to upgrade or enhance current APZs across the LGA. Reserve neighbours will be notified by mail in advance of new works adjacent to their homes.

Creating or upgrading an APZ involves:

removing most of the shrub layer - isolated clumps or bands can be leftremoving the more hazardous ground fuel, (eg fallen branches under 8cm thick - logs and larger branches can usually stay)reducing leaf litter (but most groundcover plants/grass must be kept to stop weeds and erosion)removing some trees so the canopy is notcontinuouscanopy lifting, removing lower branches from trees to stop fire climbing into the canopy.

Priorities for fuel removal:

first - weedsnext - dead material such as ground litter, shrubs and brancheslast - living native plants.

Cut material is disposed of by:

mulching and spreading on areas needing erosion protectionrecycle as part of Council’s green waste programing.

Q&AWill APZ clearing damage the bush?

Asset protection zones are not cleared zones. We use our knowledge of fuel and fire behaviour to modify the bushland structure in a strategic way, and tailor the works precisely to each location.

For example, clumps of shrubs and large logs can be left. We identify and, where possible, avoid removing habitat features such as trees with hollows.

Council reserve Neighbouring

property

A typical urban/bushland boundary with Asset Protection Zone

Bushland Zone Asset Protection Zone

APZ Outer Protection Area APZ Inner Protection Area

Q&ACan you burn the bush? It’s been two years since the last burn.

No - it’s too soon to burn again.The RFS and Council have a planned burning program in place, simulating natural burning fire cycles - every, five to 20 years. Frequent burning can actually make bush more flammable by encouraging a thick understorey of Bracken and Blady grass, which burns easily. It can eliminate shrubs such as Banksias, Wattles and Peas, and leave the bush open to weed invasion.

The bush has been burnt, what can I plant?

Nothing - it’s going to grow back. The bush has burned regularly for thousands of years and the plants have evolved ways to cope with it. Many need a fire to help them reproduce (eg Banksia cones that only open after heating with fire).

Prescribed burning:burning in patternsThere is science and planning behind the way we burn the bush.

We don’t burn an entire reserve at once instead it’s divided into sections and burned over a number of years. It’s called mosaic burning, which is burning patches of bush in different stages of recovery from fire.

The aim is to keep fuel levels low and maintain a range of environments within each reserve, to best meet the needs of the different plants and animals that use it.

Pictured: Bushland recovery one year after wildfire atSimmos Beach Reserve

Facts about fire and fuelFuel management is about reducing the intensity of a fire. We don’t expect to stop a large fire, but we can slow it down and create a defendable space to fight it from.

Fire is a chemical reaction. It only happenswhen its three components - oxygen, heatand fuel - are available, as shown in thefire triangle. If one of these is reducedthe fire will slow down and if one isremoved it will stop.

When managing a bushfire risk we manage fuel - it’s the only one we have any control over.

What makes a fuel hazard?

Size: smaller fuel such as leaves, and sticks under about 8cm, burns easily. But larger fuel such as logs or smooth tree trunks takes more energy to ignite so is less hazardous.Quantity: less fuel = a less intense fire.Arrangement: bits of fuel must be close enoughtogether for the fire to travel from one to the other, like a network of sticks and leaves in a tea-tree. If they are too densely packed - like wood chip - the fire won’t get enough oxygen. Too open - like lantana - and the fire might not have enough energy to jump from one stem to the next. Connectivity: continuous fuel creates a path for afire - isolated patches of fuel are safer.Moisture content: a fire burns faster through dry fuel and moist fuel can slow or stop it.Type: some fuels, such as Eucalypt leaves, contain chemicals that make them ignite more easily.

How houses catch alight

1. Direct flame contact: a continuous supply of fuel allows flames to reach the house.2. Radiant heat: the fire is so intense or close that its heat ignites flammable material directly exposed to it.3. Ember attack: burning bark, etc is carried by the wind and dropped (mostly within a few blocks from the fire front), causing spot fires. Most property lost in bushfires is caused by embers, but residents who have a maintained property and stay home, when safe to do so, can extinguish these fires and save their

house.

Q&AThere is a fire hazard near my house, can Iclear it? Council gets a lot of requests to burn the bush or clear patches thought to be hazardous. We take requests seriously - expert staff quickly assess them and include any necessary action in our works program.

We have a responsibility to direct resources where they are most needed, so serious hazards will get quick attention - others will be scheduled into our program. People are sometimes unnecessarily fearful about fire hazards, so we are always happy to discuss bushland neighbour concerns and the reasoning behind our assessment.

Managing bushfire risk in CampbelltownWho is doing the work?

NSW Rural Fire Service:hazard reduction burns, pile burns, mechanical works and community education.

Fire and Rescue NSW:prescribed burns, community education.

Campbelltown Council bushland management:hazard reduction planning, environmentalassessments and project management.

Campbelltown Council open space team:maintaining APZs, roadside vegetation and fire trails.

Campbelltown Council road maintenance team:upgrading and maintaining fire trails.

Campbelltown Council tree specialists:creating and upgrading APZs.

Campbelltown Council bushland contractors:constructing, upgrading and maintaining APZs and fire trails, flora and fauna reporting.

Correctional Services:maintaining APZs.

Reserve neighbours: managing fuels on their own properties.

How long will it take?

Special projects such as the construction orupgrades of APZs and fire trails are prioritised and planned for completion each year.

Maintenance of APZs, roadside vegetation, fire trails and prescribed burning is an ongoing part of hazard reduction in bushland management.

Q&AThere is a tree adjacent to my property – can I have it removed because it is a bushfire hazard?

Generally, single trees are not a bushfire hazard and as such, cannot be removed as a part of hazard reduction. However, this can depend on a few factors such as how close the tree is to your house, the bushland composition, any understorey vegetation or if it is considered a dangerous tree. This can be assessed by Council.

How you can helpPrepare a Bushfire Survival Plan

One of the most important decisions you can make isto leave early or stay anddefend a well preparedproperty.

Prepare your property

Keep your home and property maintained. There are a number of measures you can take to prepare your home and property (see overleaf).

Join a local Community Fire Unit

Training and equipment are provided to help bush neighbours defend their properties.

Don’t use the APZ as storage or dumping ground

Storing materials such as firewood, garden waste, vehicles or other structures creates a fire hazard and weed problems. It can also block access for firefighters.

We are doing all we can to minimise the risk from bushfire, but we can’t eliminate it.

So it is vital that you are prepared. Here is some basic information.

Your Bushfire Survival Plan

The middle of a bushfire is no time to start thinking about what you should do. Having a Bushfire Survival Plan will help you avoid making last minute decisions that could be deadly. The plan will outline what you need to do to prepare yourself, your family, your pets and what actions each member of your family will need to do to be safe.Download your Bushfire Survival Plan today at www.rfs.nsw.gov.au

Preparing your property In bushfires, many houses are destroyed through ember attack, when burning leaves and twigs carried by the wind land on or around the house.

Be prepared for bushfire by doing the following:

keep lawns short and gardens well maintainedcut back trees and shrubs hanging over buildingsclean up fallen leaves, twigs and debris from around the propertyhave hoses long enough to reach around your housecheck that your insurance is adequate and up-to-dateinstall metal gutter guardsrepair damaged or missing roof tiles fit seals around doors and windows to eliminate gapsenclose the area under the houserepair or cover gaps in external wallsconsider attaching a fire sprinkler system to gutters.

Keep informed

Fire can threaten suddenly and without warning, so you must beprepared to act without receiving an emergency warning.

know what the fire danger rating is for your area.watch for signs of fire, especially smoke and flames.if you receive a bush fire alert, take it seriously and act promptly.look and listen for information on TV, radio, the internet, mobile phones and through speaking with neighbours.

PREPARE ACT SURVIVE

Fire danger rating sign

How to find out more

NSW Rural Fire Service or Fire & Rescue NSW can provide you with more advice about preparing yourproperty, and developing your Bushfire Survival Plan for you and your family. Contact Council for moreinformation about the hazard reduction program.

Fire & Rescue NSWPhone: 9742 7400www.fire.nsw.gov.au

Campbelltown City CouncilPhone: 4645 4000www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.auCnr Queen and Broughton Sts CampbelltownPO Box 57 Campbelltown NSW 2560

Macarthur Rural Fire ServicePhone: 4645 4597www.rfs.nsw.gov.au