Forest Fires & Water shortages - constructive replies only.....

[mandisfam]

sorry couldn't help but add the bit about constructive replies after the threads today.....

Back to my post, I have read that the biggest cause of death in oz is not being bitten or attacked by animals but the dangers forest/bush fires can bring.

I was wondering especially from those already in oz, how big a threat are forest/bush fires and are they procedures who have learn to protect yourself and your home and if so how to do go about learning these things.

Also how serious is the water shortage in oz, what sort of controls do they have on water usage, eg hose pipe bans......something I really don't know anything about.

Look forward to some constructive replies.
Mandisfam

[kdal]

Hi, Sorry dont know the ins and outs of this topic but, when we went to Australia in December 2006 there was really bad bush fires in Melbourne. By the time we arrived in Melbourne you could hardly see as it was all so hazy, but I do believe by listening to the news that alot of lives were lost. But I would think it depends how close to bushland you live to how much in danger you are going to be in.

In Brisbane we noticed alot of Water shortage signs up, they tell you what number it is on and that tells you what you are allowed to use and what not - if that makes sense.

I'm sure that someone who currently lives in Australia can explain this and tell you alot more.

Interesting post

[jogrant3232]

LOL to the constritive replies..
Again dont know the ins and outs but while travaling round WA you could see the burnt trees and land caused by fires. Its hard to imagine this and seeing is believing. As for the water shortage, you turn the tap off while cleaning your teeth just on again to swill tooth brush. Ive never showered so quick and they dont seem impressed when you say your going for a shower before you go to bed as you have had one that morning. The goverment give them money to have bores in the garden. If you dont have a bore you can only water your garden twice a week. They are now giving them money to have a front loader washing machine now as the top loaders use too much water.

[Quoll]

We had a very serious and horribly scary bushfire here 5 years ago and 500 homes were destroyed in the process. I was working in the evacuation centre which saw over 3000 people trek through the doors and then had to be evacuated in the process. In our case, we were not well warned that it was coming and it took out whole streets - there was nothing that people could do to protect themselves although many homes were saved because there were people out there hosing down the roofs and putting out embers that got onto the eaves. This was pretty extreme for Aus and it was one of those unstoppable fires. We do have packages in bushfire season which tell you about clearing the land around your home, clearing stuff up against your house, getting a water pump etc etc. All such things are common sense and common practice out in the bush but in the cities, like ours, we have tended to expect the fire brigade and Rural Fire Service to come and fix things. We are all hoping that this was a once in a lifetime experience!

As for water - our dams are at 46% and we have water restrictions which stop you hosing your car or outside areas, allow you to water by hand only on certain days etc. Some small towns were on the verge of having to have water trucked in at the end of last year but fortunately the rain fell for a little while and the dams filled up again. They talk about 4 minute showers but that aint going to happen in my future but I know that is one way that people save water. Many homes have water tanks - we have a big one off the garage which is for drinking and watering the garden. Others do a lot of grey water collection and use that for their gardens.

Bushfires havent killed that many people (fingers crossed and wood touched), the biggest danger is still driving on our roads.

[taffy 62]

I remember seeing that on TV Quoll, It was pretty bad.
The closest we have ever got to a bush fire was in the hills behind us. It was school holidays, I was at work when I got home the kids were on the roof hosing it down and filling up the gutters! We also had a pool so had to let the fire department know. That massive "Elvis" helicopter kept coming over hour house after filling up with water at local farmers dams.
The same rules regarding water are in force in Wodonga, they have water patrol guys out checking that people are doing the right thing. The Hume Weir is only at 6% capacity which is scary. I think if the rains don'nt come in winter or spring, things will get a bit dire by summer.
Qld is the same they are getting rain but it's not falling in the catchment areas.

[Stuju]

The F3 freeway is often closed due to bush fires, saying there was not too many this summer just gone but the summer before there was quite a few.

We are currently one level 3 here on the central coast
just for residential is:-


Lawns and gardens

• No fi xed hoses or sprinklers.

• No hand-held hoses, micro sprays or drip systems.

• Watering cans may be used to water at any time on any day.

Vehicle and boat washing**

• All road vehicles (including cars, trucks, caravans and cars in car yards) may be washed

with a bucket or a hose provided a trigger nozzle is used.

• All boats (including all water craft) may be washed with a bucket or a hose provided a

trigger nozzle is used.
• Boat engines, bilges, boat trailer brakes & wheels may be washed with a hose for up to

a total of 5 minutes provided a trigger nozzle is used.

All external surfaces
• No washing or wetting of any external surface using a hose is permitted, including

paths, driveways, building surface, outside furniture or structures.

Private pools
• Topping or refi lling of existing pools using a hose from the town water supply is not

allowed. A bucket may be used or supply other than the drinking water supply system.

• Filling of new pools from the town water supply is not permitted.

Voluntary Residential Usage Target is 150 litres per person per day

All exemptions issued under previous Level 4 water restrictions are valid under the current Level 3 water

restrictions. Any previous exemptions issued under other water restriction levels are revoked.

No restrictions apply to the use of town water in the event of, or where there is risk of, an accident,

fi re, hazard to health, safety or environment.

Runoff from any watered area is not permitted.

Watering systems that do NOT draw on the town water supply should carry appropriate signage that is clearly

visible from the street.
Any breaches of these restrictions can result in a $200 fi ne for an individual and $2,200 for a corporation.
The residential consumption target is expressed on a maximum per person basis. It is recognised that
residential consumption within individual homes is affected by the effi ciency of appliances/fi xtures and number

of occupants. The target is not mandatory but provides guidance to customers on acceptable water usage rates.

[ErmintrudeMcMoo]

I think it depends on what part of Oz you are heading to - water restrictions aren`t so bad here in WA as they are elsewhere. We try use as little as possible- no taps running when cleaning teeth, making sure you have a full load of washing, having a front loader to use less water, keeping showers to 4 mins,I`d also like a water tank for the garden or be able to recycle grey water eventually, but this is all personal choice and voluntary here. At the mo the only restrictions are on retic use - twice a week you can put the retic on or 3 times a week if you have your own bore (which we do). Personally I thnk Australia would use a lot less water if it didn`t have so many lawns!!
As for bush fires you do get them , we had one where we are just a few weeks back, luckily it was at the bottom end of our suburb. It was a bit nervewracking, watching the helitacs pick up water from the local lakes and then dump it on the fire, we just closed all doors & windows (the smoke was pretty bad) and switched off the aircon. We sat listening to updates on the local ABC radio station which kept us informed. This was all because of some idiot who deliberately started the fire!!
You just have to try and keep it in perspective, yes it can happen, yes it helps to have a plan in place as to what you will do if it does.

[mandisfam]

Some interesting replies thanks. Just out of interest, are water rates a fixed charge or are they metered like many houses in the UK???

Thanks, Mandisfam

[ali]

In WA there was a report that the majority of bush fires were deliberatly lit. We can only water our garden on 2 days of the week (depends on your house number) early morning or evening. We've just laid a new lawn and we could register the lawn which allows us to water it every day for a set period of time (think it's a month but not too sure without looking). Luckily we've had a couple of days rain which has been good for the garden.
Ali

[Quoll]

Our water is metered with a basic cost then an increasing amount the more you use - so your initial allowance is at a lower rate then when you go above a certain level, the rate per kl increases. We do have rebates for installing rain water tanks.

Our bushfires were lit by lightning but we do get a number of deliberately lit ones in any season. I have heard of known arsonists being invited in for questioning on days of total fire ban - just to keep them off the streets I think.

The majority of deaths from bushfires are RFB or SES personnel who are out there at the pointy end. Most jurisdictions are pretty good about evacuation plans and get the bulk of the population out in time. We only had 4 deaths which was absolutely staggering, it could have been so much worse. We did have several people who were hospitalized with serious burns for many many months though.