Editorial: Bushfire strategies for survival

Tasmania’s bushfire season is not yet over — in coming days we face intense heatwaves and we know the fuel load is large and there is potential for disaster.

DESPITE the early warnings, nothing could have prepared Australians for the furious bushfires that have ravaged our country.

The devastation was felt far and wide and communities face a long and painful road to recovery.

The death toll from the recent bushfire crisis currently sits at 33.

The loss of life, wildlife, homes and land has been harrowing.

For months residents across Australia have been breathing in smoke, reducing air quality to some of the poorest levels on the planet.

The sheer scale of the disaster has changed the Australian psyche and, according to research, 65 per cent of Hobartians are worried about the risk of bushfire.

In capital cities like Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney that number is likely the same or higher given the veil of smoke that’s smothered those residents for so long now.

The worst part for us, here in Tasmania, is that our bushfire season is not yet over.

In coming days we face intense heatwaves and we know the fuel load is large and there is potential for disaster.

A University of Tasmania fire expert, Professor David Bowman, has issued a stark warning about Hobart’s vulnerability should a dangerous bushfire break out.

He insists it is not a question of if we get hit, but when.

Professor Bowman, who is a Pyrography and Fire Science expert, says the fuel load in the city combined with inadequate emergency planning are compounding the threat.

Hobart City Council, obviously alarmed by his advice, this week voted to develop an ember attack strategy.

The council by its own admission accepts it has a “whole heap of work” to do. That work needs to happen quickly.

Tasmanians, like most Australians, are no strangers to the perils of our extreme climate. But the evidence is showing our fire seasons are becoming longer, our temperatures are going to rise and that we must do more to prepare — not just for this fire season, but for every summer.

More than one in five of those who participated in Professor Bowman’s study said they had never discussed what they would do in a bushfire situation, and 8 per cent said they did not plan to leave unless a bushfire was immediately threatening their home.

One of the most salient lessons of all of any bushfires in recent history has been that people living in areas that may be impacted by bushfire must have a survival plan. The only slight variation to that advice now would be that common sense and the risk of ember fires would suggest everyone should prepare for a possible disaster.

The best decision for the vast majority of Tasmanians will be to have a plan to leave their property, be flexible and informed about travel plans and not leave decision-making until the last minute.